{"id":6147,"date":"2026-03-27T14:47:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T09:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesasian.com\/?p=6147"},"modified":"2026-03-27T14:47:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T09:02:18","slug":"balendra-shah-has-taken-the-oath-as-prime-minister-of-nepal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesasian.com\/?p=6147","title":{"rendered":"Balendra Shah has taken the oath as Prime Minister of Nepal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kathmandu. Balendra Shah has taken the oath as Nepal’s prime minister after sweeping the first election since deadly anti-corruption protests toppled the government last year. The 35-year-old was elected as the leader of the parliamentary party of the Rastriya Swatantra Party on Thursday, paving his way to become Nepal’s youngest elected prime minister.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I, Balendra Shah, in the name of the country and people, pledge that I will be loyal to the constitution and fulfil my duty as the prime minister,” Shah said, dressed in skin-tight trousers, a matching jacket, his signature black Nepali cloth cap and sunglasses.<\/span><\/p>\n

President Ram Chandra Poudel administered the oath of office after a ceremony involving scores of chanting Hindu priests and red-robed Buddhist monks. Shah is the first Madhesi — a person of the southern plains bordering India — in decades to lead the Himalayan nation that is wedged between Asian giants India and China.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nepal chose former Kathmandu mayor and fresher Shah and his RSP to form the next government, decimating the traditional parties in the first general elections since last year’s violent Gen Z protests that sought generational change and a corruption-free regime. His RSP won 182 seats in the 275-member parliament in the March 5 election.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Nepali Congress party, the country’s oldest party, became a distant second group in parliament with just 38 seats. The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) of Oli, who was forced to resign after the Gen Z unrest, controls 25 members.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kathmandu. Balendra Shah has taken the oath as Nepal’s prime minister after sweeping the first election since deadly anti-corruption protests toppled the government last year. The 35-year-old was elected as the leader of the parliamentary party of the Rastriya Swatantra Party on Thursday, paving his way to become Nepal’s youngest elected prime minister. “I, Balendra […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlights"],"yoast_head":"\nBalendra Shah has taken the oath as Prime Minister of Nepal - Times Asian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesasian.com\/?p=6147\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Balendra Shah has taken the oath as Prime Minister of Nepal - Times Asian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kathmandu. Balendra Shah has taken the oath as Nepal’s prime minister after sweeping the first election since deadly anti-corruption protests toppled the government last year. 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