Balendra Shah

Balendra Shah (; born 27 April 1990), popularly known as Balen Shah or simply Balen, is a Nepalese rapper, structural engineer and politician. He is currently serving as the 15th mayor of Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal. Shah has been a popular figure in Nepalese hip-hop since the early 2010s. Shah announced his candidacy as an independent and was elected at the 2022 local election, defeating Nepali Congress candidate Sirjana Singh and CPN (UML) candidate Keshav Sthapit. He is the first independent candidate to be elected as the mayor of Kathmandu municipality. Time included him on their list of "Time100 Next" in 2023. Early life and education Shah was born on 27 April 1990 in Naradevi, Kathmandu. He is the youngest son of Ram Narayan Shah, an Ayurvedic practitioner, and his wife Dhruvadevi Shah. His parents moved to Kathmandu from Mahottari after his father was posted to Naradevi Ayurvedic Hospital. His paternal ancestral home is in Mahottari's Ekdara Rural Municipality, while his mother's family lives in Dhanusha.