--- description: Find out why Balendra Shah is one of the 100 most influential people of 2026. title: Balendra Shah: The 100 Most Influential People of 2026 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt78e4ef46edfd37fa/69dfb513dd440b7319a9bea2/T100-2026-Web-Balendra-Shah-235.png?branch=production --- Apr 15, 2026 # Balendra Shah by [Charlie Campbell](/author/charlie-campbell/) ## Charlie Campbell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Editor at Large  NurPhoto—Getty Images “Money seems to grow on trees for those that sell their integrity,” raps [Balendra Shah](https://time.com/article/2026/03/11/balendra-shah-elections-nepal-prime-minister-rsp-gen-z-protests/ "undefined"), the 35-year-old Nepali former hip-hop star who in March was elected the Himalayan nation’s youngest-ever Prime Minister. That landslide victory was galvanized by [deadly street protests](https://time.com/7315492/nepal-gen-z-protests-social-media-nepo-kids-corruption-explainer/ "undefined") in the fall led by a Gen Z determined to purge a political old guard perceived as venal and out of touch. Enter Shah, commonly known as Balen, a civil-engineering graduate whose brooding stage presence and abrasive polemics skewering corrupt officials powered his becoming, four years ago, Kathmandu’s mayor—and now the leader of Nepal’s 30 million people. Balen’s rise is as much populist youthquake as it is a wholesale repudiation of South Asia’s ossified dynastic politics, sending shudders through the region’s establishment. As mayor, Balen managed to cut through bureaucratic red tape to improve waste management, education, and health care. Much hinges on whether this professed devotee of Tupac Shakur and 50 Cent can translate that success onto the national stage. “All politicians, new and old, are thieves,” Balen once posted on social media. Nepalis will hope he proves himself wrong. _Campbell is a TIME editor-at-large_ Balendra Shah Is on the 2026 TIME100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/balendra-shah/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/balendra-shah/"},"headline":"Balendra Shah","datePublished":"2026-04-15T11:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:31.642Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/balendra-shah/","keywords":["TIME 100","list","franchise","Accolades"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt78e4ef46edfd37fa/69dfb513dd440b7319a9bea2/T100-2026-Web-Balendra-Shah-235.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlie Campbell","jobTitle":"Editor at Large","url":"https://time.com/author/charlie-campbell/"}],"creator":"Charlie Campbell","articleSection":"TIME100","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt78e4ef46edfd37fa/69dfb513dd440b7319a9bea2/T100-2026-Web-Balendra-Shah-235.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/time100/","name":"TIME100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-100/","name":"TIME 100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/balendra-shah/","name":"Balendra Shah"}}]}] ```