A 'rapper' won the Prime Minister's seat in the Nepalese general election held after the struggle.

Vote counting is still underway in Nepal's general election, and according to the results released so far, Balendra Shah, a former rapper and politician, has taken a clear lead to become the country's next prime minister. He served as the mayor of Kathmandu, the capital, until last January, and in this election, he is competing against strong candidates such as former Prime Minister K.P. of the Communist Party of Nepal (UML).

Oli and powerful candidates like Gagan Thapa of the Nepali Congress.

According to official election results released by Friday evening, Balendra's centrist 'Rastriya Swatantra Party' (RSP) has managed to lead in more than two-thirds of the 165 directly elected seats. The Nepali Congress is in second place, and the UML party is in third. However, vote counting is traditionally slow in Nepal due to its mountainous terrain, requiring helicopters to transport ballot boxes from remote areas. For this reason, the final results are expected to take several more days, and it took more than two weeks to release the final results of the 2022 election.

The 35-year-old, popularly known by his short name Balen, is a structural engineer by profession. Having been involved in the Nepali hip-hop (Nephop) music scene for decades, many of his songs are based on social issues, with "Balidan" (Sacrifice), which garnered millions of views, being prominent among them. Balendra's popularity rapidly increased with the massive series of protests that erupted in Nepal last year, initially against a social media ban, and later against corruption, unemployment, and economic collapse. As a result of that struggle, which ended with 77 people losing their lives, the then-leader K.P. Oli was forced to resign from his post, but the 74-year-old is once again contesting this election and is confident of victory.

Balendra, who supported those protesters, also criticized K.P. Oli at the time as a "terrorist" who betrayed the country. However, his behavior and statements in the political arena have been criticized by some parties, and his use of police to remove street vendors and landless people during his tenure as mayor drew criticism from human rights organizations. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that Balendra, who contested from the 'Jhapa 5' constituency, traditionally considered a stronghold of K.P. Oli, is currently leading significantly in that constituency. Throughout his election campaign, he avoided the media, which has raised concerns about media freedom, but young voters believe he possesses the new energy needed to change the country's future.

In this election, the people of Nepal voted to elect a 275-member parliament. Of these, 165 members are directly elected, while the remaining 110 are chosen through a proportional representation system based on the national vote percentage secured by parties. The Election Commission states that the voter turnout for this election, where nearly 19 million registered voters were eligible, is approximately 60%.

This election, following last year's protests, has become a decisive battle between old and new political forces. The fact that the Rastriya Swatantra Party, which came in fourth in 2022, is leading this time clearly reflects the Nepali people's aspiration to move towards new leadership, away from a coalition government system that has revolved around three major parties for over three decades. It is also noteworthy that one-third of the candidates in this election are independent. Faced with promises from political parties for job creation, eradication of corruption, and good governance, the votes of the younger generation, including over 800,000 first-time voters, have become the most significant factor in determining the outcome of this election.