{"id":76554,"date":"2026-03-03T15:48:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T06:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2026\/mar\/03\/nepal-gen-z-election-popular-former-rapper-balen"},"modified":"2026-03-03T15:48:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T06:48:36","slug":"nepals-gen-z-election-can-popular-former-rapper-balen-topple-a-veteran-political-heavyweight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/?p=76554","title":{"rendered":"Nepal\u2019s gen-Z election: can popular former rapper Balen topple a veteran political heavyweight?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With 46% of Nepal\u2019s population under the age of 24, the election will be a test of whether their hopes and frustrations are being taken seriously<\/p>\n<p>In the unassuming, dusty lanes of the Nepali city of Damak, an unprecedented political showdown is unfolding. Pitting an old political heavyweight against a rapper-turned-politician with a penchant for dark sunglasses and sharp suits, the battle is one that could completely reshape the country\u2019s politics.<\/p>\n<p>As Nepal heads into its most gripping election in years, at the forefront stands Balendra Shah, the 35-year-old known simply as Balen. He rose to fame as a popular rapper whose songs criticised the ruling elite, before pivoting to politics and winning a resounding victory to become the mayor of Kathmandu in May 2022.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2026\/mar\/03\/nepal-gen-z-election-popular-former-rapper-balen\">Continue reading&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With 46% of Nepal\u2019s population under the age of 24, the election will be a test of whether their hopes and frustrations are being taken seriouslyIn the unassuming, dusty lanes of the Nepali city of Damak, an unprecedented political showdown is unfoldin&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sns_share_botton_hide":"","vkExUnit_sns_title":"","_vk_print_noindex":"","sitemap_hide":"","_veu_custom_css":"","veu_display_promotion_alert":"","vkexunit_cta_each_option":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[241,61,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nepal","category-south-and-central-asia","category-world-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"veu_head_title_object":{"title":"","add_site_title":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=76554"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76555,"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76554\/revisions\/76555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}