Former Rap Singer Becomes Nepal's Youngest Prime Minister, Takes Oath of Office Today

Balendra Shah (Balen Shah) wearing a red scarf. (Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - Balendra Shah will take the oath of office to become Nepal's youngest Prime Minister guided by President Ramchandra Paudel on Friday, March 27 local time.

Citing AP, Shah, 35, was appointed as the Prime Minister of Nepal after his party, the Rastriya Swatantra Party, won a landslide victory in the general election on March 5, 2026.

The post that Shah occupied was also thanks to a youth-led uprising that ousted Nepal's corrupt government in September 2025.

The swearing-in ceremony for Nepal's youngest prime minister will use Hindu rituals, including "shankhnaad" or blowing of the conch, and religious chants by Hindu priests and Buddhist monks.

Shah was born in the capital Kathmandu, but his family is from Nepal's Hindu-dominated Terai region, close to the border with India.

After officially taking office to lead the government, Shah will face challenges over public distrust of Nepal's established parties, which are widely blamed by voters for corruption and chronic political instability.

Before becoming prime minister, Shah was a structural engineer who was also known as a rap musician before becoming the mayor of Kathmandu, then leading the Rastriya Swatantra Party, which won about two-thirds of the 275 seats in the Lower House of the bicameral Parliament that was influential in the March 2026 Nepal Elections.