Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a former TV stand-up comedian and entertainer, became the sixth president of Ukraine in 2019. Since February 2022, his government has been struggling for existence against Russia.
Now, amid mounting challenges from Gen Z agitation and political uncertainties, Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balendra Shah, a rapper-turned-politician, has been named as a prime ministerial candidate for the March 5, 2026, elections to the House of Representatives, Nepal’s lower house of Parliament.
A popular alliance has been formed between the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and Shah, which has been approved after a committee meeting. The alliance is poised to challenge the older parties in Nepal, which have been in power for over three decades, the media reported on Monday.
Shah, 35, joined hands with the RSP, which is led by former TV host-turned-politician Rabi Lamichhane, on Sunday, party officials said.
The parties came to a seven-point agreement on various issues ahead of the upcoming March 5 elections.
Under the agreement, Shah will become the Prime Minister if the RSP wins the elections, and Lamichhane will remain party chief.
The two will also address the demands raised by the youth-led Gen Z protesters since September, after the death of 77 people. The protests also led to the resignation of the then Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli who is trying to stage a comeback to power, or support a ‘likeminded’ leader.
RSP leader Lamichhane is currently out on bail after being released on December 18 and has since intensified political activities, including several meetings with Shah. He was in prison for alleged misuse of funds collected by cooperatives from small depositors. He had formed the party ahead of the 2022 elections and became popular for his anti-corruption campaign as a TV host.
In a Facebook post, he shared, “Consensus should be what the country needs, not what the leader wants.”
The agreement had also initially included Ujaayalo Nepal party leader Kulman Ghising, but he could not be convinced, according to party representatives