Balendra Shah's RSP makes history, registers landmark victory in Nepal election

KATHMANDU: (Mar 8) Rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah's RSP is all set to form the government in Nepal, after securing a sweeping victory in the crucial general election, the results of which were declared on Sunday, decimating the established parties in the politically-fragile Himalayan country.

Popularly known as "Balen", the 35-year-old prime-ministerial candidate of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) defeated four-time former prime minister K P Sharma Oli, the chair of Nepal's legacy party -- the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN-UML) -- by a huge margin of about 50,000 votes in the Jhapa-5 constituency.

Balen secured 68,348 votes against 74-year-old Oli's 18,734, the Election Commission (EC) said.