Four-time PM Oli congratulates Balen on victory in Nepal polls

Kathmandu, Mar 7 (PTI) Former prime minister K P Sharma Oli on Saturday congratulated Balendra Shah 'Balen' soon after the young RSP leader defeated the veteran CPN-UML chair by a huge margin in the legacy party's stronghold Jhapa-5 constituency in Nepal.

The Rashtriya Swatantrata Party (RSP) leader and former Kathmandu Mayor, popular only as Balen, is his party's prime ministerial candidate and defeated the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) and four-time PM Oli by almost 50,000 votes.

In a proverbial David versus Goliath fight, Balen, 35, secured 68,348 votes against 74-year-old Oli's 18,734 in the constituency in eastern Nepal's Koshi province, where the former prime minister had remained undefeated for years, the Election Commission (EC) said.

“Balen babu, congratulations for the victory,” Oli wrote in his social media post.

Oli, who too was projected as the PM face of the CPN-UML, wished Balen for a full five year tenure for his government in the Himalayan nation that has seen 14 governments in the last 18 years.

“I wish your five year tenure be trouble free, successful and hearty congratulations,” Oli said as he attached a 2022 photo showing him gifting a tabla to Balen after the rapper-turned-politician won Kathmandu mayor's election as an independent.

The general elections were necessitated after Oli resigned on September 9 last year, following violent two-day protests by the youth-led Gen Z group against his government over corruption and a ban on social media.

Balen chose the Jhapa-5 constituency to take on Oli. While Balen represented the emerging youth force of Nepal, Oli was the face of the conservative old guard. PTI SBP NPK NPK