KATHMANDU: A Nepali rapper with an educational degree in structural engineering, Balendra Shah, an independent candidate in lately held local level elections, has been elected as the mayor of the capital city Kathmandu.
According to the Election Commission, Balendra Shah who is known as “Balen” amongst the youths of Kathmandu secured 61,767 votes to get elected to the post of Mayor.
Shah’s erstwhile rival Sirjana Singh of Nepali Congress fell back with 38,341 votes while the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN-UML) candidate Keshav Sthapit, also the former Mayor of the capital received 38,117 votes. Standing tough against the established political parties, Shah had announced his candidature for the metropolitan constituency two and a half years ago.
The elected mayor had completed higher secondary education (Plus Two) from VS Niketan in Kathmandu and graduated from Himalayan White House College with a degree in Engineering. Shah has a bachelor’s degree in structural engineering from a university in India and had worked in various districts of Nepal for development work. Alongside, Balen, the CPN-UML’s Sunita Dangol has won the post of deputy mayor. As per the vote count results published late on Thursday night, Dangol’s rival Rameshwar Shrestha fell back with 23,806 votes.