Balendra Shah, senior leader of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), has achieved a landslide victory in Jhapa-5, defeating CPN-UML chair KP Sharma Oli by 49,614 votes.

Shah secured 68,348 votes, while Oli managed only 18,734 votes in the constituency widely regarded as the election’s epicentre.

Shah’s victory drew nationwide attention, as he had been announced by the RSP as the party’s candidate for prime minister.

A senior leader of the RSP, Shah contested against Oli, who had previously defeated Nepali Congress leader Khagendra Adhikari by a margin of 28,576 votes in the 2022 parliamentary election.

Balen, a former mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City from May 2022 until his resignation in January 2026 to enter national politics, combines a technical and artistic background.

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Born in Naradevi, Kathmandu, into a Madhesi family, he is the son of the late Ram Narayan Shah, a distinguished Ayurvedic physician.

Before his national political rise, Shah was active in rescue operations and structural mapping following the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake.

An accomplished rapper, songwriter and music producer, he launched his music career in 2012.

Initially aligned with the Bibeksheel Party, Shah won the 2022 Kathmandu mayoral election as an independent candidate and later joined the RSP in late 2025 to lead their campaign in the 2026 General Elections, positioning himself as a key contender for Nepal’s premiership.