Balendra Shah, aka Balen, has finally taken the office of Nepal’s 47th Prime Minister on the auspicious day of Ramanavami in the Hindu calendar, symbolising the beginning of a Rama Rajya—an all-inclusive welfare state based on righteousness, justice, and duty. But critics say that Balen’s decision to pick this day is contrary to the constitution’s secular spirit.
For many in Nepal, Hinduism—the religion of the majority—is not just a matter of politics but also a cultural representation. For those watching Nepal from a distance, the same shockwave occurs when the picture of Gorkhali King Prithvi Narayan Shah appears in the background of the Nepal Army Chief’s videos and photographs.
If Balen chose a cultural fervour for his day, any roar of criticism warrants lessons on Nepal’s history, especially its foundation as a unified-nation Kingdom in the 18th Century.
Balen is the youngest elected prime minister in modern Nepal, at 35, since 1950. His rise is marked by many firsts— the youngest prime minister, the first leader not belonging to the grand old parties, the first leader to have a two-thirds majority in parliament, and the first to make youth the central voice of his politics.
Often seen as a populist leader, Balen has not disappointed his critics by releasing yet another song— ‘Jay Mahakali’—on the eve of his entry to the top office, hitting 2.7 million views in just 15 hours. The song praises Goddess Kali—a Hindu Goddess symbolising power, and the destruction of evil. It also boasts of the nation and people and calls out Balen’s critics.
Promising to be the rebuilder of Nepal, Balen raps with confidence with lines like ‘Let them talk, I keep moving’ and ‘Ma Agadi Sabai Dhalchan’—all fall before me—alongside assertions such as ‘I am real’ and ‘I rise every time’.
Like his past viral songs, ‘Jay Mahakali’ kept intact the activist in rapper and politician Balen, as he speaks on the suffering of Nepalese abroad who still await a debt-free, improved life for their families back home. The song is certainly an anthem for what he has been elected to achieve—the aspirations of youth.
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Governance is not a marathon
While representing an aspirational Nepal, through his cabinet where Gen Z leaders like Sudan Gurung are reportedly getting key portfolios like Home Affairs, and through voters, Balen is taking over the political sphere, long defined by instability, corruption, tug of power, unemployment and underdevelopment.
By fighting the old guard, Balen may have emerged tall, but his immediate challenge would be reforming a bureaucracy often seen as a co-conspirator in the country’s current state.
The second would be to judiciously find a balance between populist actions and what the country needs in the long term. Doing all for the sake of a 100-day report card may be too ambitious, given that the country he now leads was systematically derailed over seven decades.
The PM also needs to manage and channel the youth energy in his cabinet and party—that may be restless and ambitious too often. Changes and reforms must be guided by long-term thinking rather than populist sentiment—where going beyond the law becomes the criterion and public validation a norm to fulfil every demand that emerges from the streets, as it guarantees leadership approval.
He must also know when to stop—when the judicious use of power slides into a quest for absolute authority—something that Nepalese leaders have found charming.
Not to forget, Rabi Lamichhane, the founder of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), has already held the posts of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister. Now, with Balen Shah elevated to Prime Minister just months after joining the party, it may look like an organic evolution of leadership in the long run, even though it was the Balen wave, and not the RSP appeal, that won the election.
Therefore, a clear clash of ambitions, with both Balen and Rabi driven by a visible quest for power, could be a destabilising factor in the long run.
Third, and foremost, Balen must learn to take criticism because that is going to be the bulk. The current parliament has a pale opposition, with RSP holding 182/275—two seats short of the two-thirds majority—and it is doubtful the opposition will be united, since the old guard was hardly united when in power.
Will opposition come from parliament? Maybe yes and maybe not. RSP’s numbers in the parliament would be Balen’s biggest strength, but the opposition on the ground would not be in numbers but in mass.
The Gen Z movement succeeded in raising rights issues and bringing changemakers, but the same youth would be questioning anything and everything under Balen’s watch. Therefore, questions of accountability and transparency would be asked more on the ground, on social media, television, and print by the youth than by the parliament.
Balen has the chance to be the changemaker, and the country has potential and youth energy. What is required now is patience and a long-term approach.
Rishi Gupta is a commentator on global strategic affairs. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)