Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balendra Shah resigned on Sunday.
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| Source: Social Media |
In a letter addressed to the deputy mayor, Shah said he was stepping down in accordance with the Constitution of Nepal 2015, the Local Government Operation Act 2017, and prevailing laws of the metropolis.
Shah said that he resigned of his own will. Shah, an independent candidate, won the mayoral race of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City in the 2022 local elections.
Shah, in his resignation,
said he had tried to work with maximum responsibility in the interest of the
metropolis and its residents during his tenure. Shah expressed hope that the
leadership, service delivery and development journey of the metropolis would
become more effective, transparent and result-oriented in the days ahead.
He also extended best wishes
for the success of the deputy mayor and the metropolitan executive.
Shah, who recently entered
the Rastriya Swatantra Party, is preparing to contest from the Jhapa-5
constituency in the March 5 elections, with the declared aim of beating
four-time prime minister and CPN-UML chair KP Sharma Oli in his own
constituency and institutionalising the agenda raised by the Gen Z movement.
The electoral battle in
Jhapa-5 is shaping up to be an intriguing contest this time.
As per the election schedule,
nomination filing has been scheduled for Tuesday.
The Jhapa constituency 5,
long a stronghold of CPN-UML chief KP Sharma Oli, is now set for an
unprecedented contest as Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah prepares to contest from
the constituency in the March 5 elections.
During the parliamentary
election in 2022, Oli emerged victorious from Jhapa constituency 5, setting a
record. He was elected for the House of Representatives with the highest number
of votes till then by a candidate. Oli defeated Nepali Congress candidate
Khagendra Adhikari with a thumping margin. The UML supremo bagged 52,319 votes
while Adhikari secured 23,743.
Jhapa-5 has been Oli’s
electoral constituency since 1991, and he has contested elections from the area
continuously since. He suffered defeat only once, in the 2008 Constituent
Assembly election, when he lost to CPN (Maoist) candidate Bishwadeep Lingden.
In the past two parliamentary
elections, Oli’s main challenger was Congress’ Adhikari, who left his teaching
career at Kathmandu’s Tri-Chandra College to enter politics. Oli, however, continued
to secure comfortable victories with the backing of the Rastriya Prajatantra
Party (RPP), which maintains a strong foothold in the constituency. In return,
the UML has consistently supported RPP chairman Rajendra Lingden in
neighbouring Jhapa-3.
Mayor Shah popularly known as
Balen is preparing to contest the election with the declared aim of beating Oli
in his own constituency and institutionalising the agenda raised by the Gen Z
movement. The electoral battle in Jhapa-5 is shaping up to be an intriguing
contest this time.
According to Bhupadev Shah,
Balen’s personal secretary, Balen plans to resign as Kathmandu mayor on January
17 and two days later attend a public meeting in Janakpur before heading to
Jhapa-5 to file his candidacy.
“We are trying to establish
an agenda of change by defeating, in his own constituency, the person who
cracked down on the Gen Z movement and took young lives,” said Shah, adding
that all preparations were underway accordingly.
As part of his campaign
preparations, Balen is planning to rent a house in Jhapa-5. He has already held
meetings with a team led by Prakash Pathak, chair of the Rastriya Swatantra
Party (RSP) in Jhapa, and the party’s district secretary Shambhu Prasad Dhakal.
He has also met youths from Damak, including Santosh Dulal, as well as Yatish
Ojha of the Nepal Gen Z Front.
“When we met him [Balen] at
Jwagal in Lalitpur on January 11, he clearly stated that he would contest the
election against former Oli from Jhapa-5. We are preparing accordingly,” said
Pathak.
On December 28, Shah formally
joined the RSP through a unification agreement and will contest the election
under the party’s banner. The RSP has also decided to project Shah as a future
prime ministerial candidate.
The Sushila Karki-led interim
government, formed in the wake of the Gen Z movement, has announced plans to
hold the House of Representatives election nearly two years ahead of schedule.
Oli was prime minister at the
time of the September Gen Z uprising during which around 77 people were killed.
The Gen Z revolt was driven
by demands for political restructuring, good governance and an end to
corruption.
According to Sashim Pokhrel,
who was appointed joint spokesperson for the RSP following Shah’s entry into
the party, the mayor’s decision to contest from Jhapa–5 is calculated. By
challenging Oli in his own constituency, Shah believes he can send a message to
the rest of the country.
Election fever has gripped
the Jhapa constituency with Balen’s proposed candidacy. The locals describe the
situation like a stone thrown into a calm pond. Voters who confidently
predicted Oli’s victory well before polling day have begun to suggest that a
different outcome is possible this time.
“In the past, UML chief Oli
secured more than 52,000 votes here—no old-generation leader could defeat him,”
said Ram Prasad Koirala, a voter from ward 9 of Damak Municipality. “But
leaders from the new generation like Balen could defeat him and upend old
trends. This time, the result could be different.”
In the 2022 election, RSP
candidate Suresh Kumar Pokhrel secured 11,748 votes in Jhapa-5 while the party
received 18,205 votes under the proportional representation system from the
constituency. Koirala says that even the discussion of Balen’s candidacy has
already pushed established candidates into a defensive position.
“Balen has not even come to
Jhapa yet. Voters have only seen and heard of him on social media and
television, and there is already excitement,” he said. “Just imagine what the
atmosphere will be like once he starts going door to door. Right now, every
household in Jhapa-5 is talking in his favour.”
Oli, who has been active in
the communist movement since the 1960s, has repeatedly been elected from this
constituency. This time, however, some voters who previously helped secure his
victories say they are preparing to change their vote.
Pabitra Dhimal, 50, from
Damak, said she would vote for Balen if he entered the race. “Even before he
arrives, many people are calling him a good candidate. He managed to get rid of
Kathmandu’s waste problem why wouldn’t he do good work here?” she said.
“Everyone in my family has decided to vote for Balen.”
Dhimal added that while some
still insist that votes should go to ‘Ba’—a common nickname for Oli she
believes the public will pick Balen. She also recalled that Oli was defeated in
Jhapa-5 by a Maoist candidate in 2008. “I think something similar will happen
this time,” she added.
UML leaders claim that Oli
ushered in a wave of development in Damak-5 and insist that voters have not even
considered his alternative. Voters, however, counter that most of the
much-touted development projects remain incomplete.
In Damak, the widely publicised
Damak Commercial Complex promoted as the tallest view tower in the country has
yet to come into full operation. The 18-storey building was vandalised during
the Gen Z movement.
In the same constituency,
efforts to build an Indigenous Stadium in Geuriya of ward 5 of Kamal Rural
Municipality have been stalled since 2009 due to disputes over its name. While
serving as prime minister in 2015, Oli renamed the proposed facility the Madan
Bhandari Stadium.
Local residents, however,
obstructed the project after the decision to name the stadium after the late
UML leader Bhandari and to establish an indigenous museum there, arguing that
the land had long been used by indigenous communities as a burial ground.
Initially, the project was
inaugurated in April 2010 by then defence minister Bidya Bhandari (the late
Bhandari’s wife) under the name Indigenous Stadium, acknowledging the site’s
cultural significance. When the proposal to rename it failed to gain support even
from Nepali Congress leaders the construction could not move forward.
Oli later announced plans to
build an alternative stadium on land belonging to the Humsedumse Community
Forest in ward 3 of Damak Municipality. Yet, years on, the construction of the
stadium remains stalled.
Other ambitious projects have
also failed to materialise. Oli laid the foundation stone for a Nepal-China
Friendship Industrial Park in Damak in 2019, promising an investment of Rs64.9
billion. Five years on, no tangible progress has been made.
Plans to turn Damak into a
model city and to build the province’s largest convention hall remain confined
on paper. “People say no one else can bring projects like Oli, but has anyone
asked how many of those projects actually moved forward?” asked Parbat Basnet,
25, a local organiser of the Gen Z movement.
Young voters express deep
frustration. Sugam Sigdel, 19, a BBS student at Damak Multiple Campus, said
anger against Oli runs deep among youth. “Our friends were killed, many were
injured during protests. This time voters have a capable alternative. With someone
like Balen, people won’t hesitate to back him,” he said.
Most voters aged between 18
and 35 we met in Jhapa-5 indicate that they are likely to change their vote
this time. Some, however, still express doubts about whether Balen will win.
“Oli will probably still win. But this time I will not only vote for Balen, I
will also go door to door asking others to vote for him.”
Samjhana Baral, 33, said she
had long been a supporter of the Nepali Congress, but in past elections she
voted for Oli, seeing him as a prime ministerial candidate. “This time my vote
will go to Balen,” she said. Despite voting repeatedly to bring Oli to power,
she feels little has been achieved on the ground.
Not everyone, however, is
convinced. Ishwari Gautam from Kamal-2 believes Balen will face difficulties as
an outsider. “Local leaders understand local problems better,” he said, adding
that he might abstain from voting altogether.
Elderly voters also largely
remain loyal to Oli. “He built roads and bridges, but people don’t understand
him,” said Taranidhi Sapkota, aged 87, from Damak-8. Yet even some long-time
party supporters now admit the contest will be tighter than ever before.
With shifting alliances,
youth mobilisation and an unprecedented challenger, Jhapa-5 has become a litmus
test for generational change in Nepali politics. Whether Balen’s gamble pays
off or Oli’s grip holds firm will be known on D-day, but one thing is
clear—Jhapa-5 will not see a routine victory this time.
