Nepal: Kathmandu Mayor Balen quits to challenge Oli for PM post

Kathmandu, Jan 18 (PTI) Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balendra Shah 'Balen' on Sunday resigned from his post to contest Nepal's March 5 parliamentary election.

After formally resigning from the post, Balen joined the Rastriya Swotantra Party led by Ravi Lamichhane, which has declared him as its prime ministerial candidate.

According to sources close to Balen, he is contesting the general election from the Jhapa -5 constituency in eastern Nepal's Koshi province, where he will challenge Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) chairman and recently deposed prime minister K P Sharma Oli.

Oli resigned on September 9, following violent protests by the youth-led Gen Z group against his government over corruption and a ban on social media.

After Oli's resignation, the Gen Z youths had asked Balen to take charge of the caretaker government.

The 35-year-old rapper-turned-politician had declined to lead the interim government, saying he would rather head the government by contesting the parliamentary election for a full term.

Former chief justice Sushila Karki was then appointed the caretaker Prime Minister on September 12.

Balen won the mayoral election as an independent candidate in 2022 with an overwhelming majority of votes.

He is credited with sweeping reform programmes in Kathmandu and the beautification of the metropolis.

In his resignation letter, Balen said, as the Mayor of Kathmandu, "I have performed my duty in an honest manner as far as possible for the welfare of the metropolis and its inhabitants." "I wish the leadership of the metropolis, service delivery and development journey will be effective, transparent and result-oriented in the days to come," he said. PTI SBP GRS GRS GRS