Will work with India to further strengthen bilateral ties, says Balendra

Rastriya Swatantra Party's (RSP) prime ministerial candidate Balendra Shah on Tuesday expressed confidence in further deepening “historic” Nepal-India ties and making them more “outcome-oriented”.

The 35-year-old rapper-turned-politician is all set to become Nepal's first Madhesi prime minister and also the Himalayan nation's youngest elected executive head. Shah made the remarks in a social media post while thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his wishes on the party's electoral success. “Thank you for the good wishes, Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji,” he said in the post. “I express my confidence that we will work together to further strengthen, deepen and make more outcome-oriented the historic, close, and multi-dimensional relations existing between Nepal and India in the coming days,” he said.

The RSP, formed in 2022, has won 125 of the 165 seats under direct voting in Nepal's parliamentary polls as vote counting under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system concluded on Tuesday, putting it in a position to form a majority Government.

Modi on Monday congratulated RSP chief Rabi Lamichhane and senior party leader Shah for their election victory, and conveyed India's commitment to work with them for the mutual prosperity, progress and well-being of the two countries.