KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 14
Despite being blunt and facing backlash from the cadres of political parties, Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balendra Shah has succeeded in garnering attention of global media.
Earlier, the New York Times had given full page coverage to Mayor Shah's profile. And now TIME magazine has listed Shah in 2023 TIME100 Next emerging leaders.
On May 12, the New York Times published a full page profile of Mayor Shah with the banner headline 'From Rap Star to Engineer to Young Mayor Demolishing Swaths of Kathmandu.' "A political novice, Shah, who just turned 33, ran as an independent - rejecting an alliance with any of the national political parties that have dominated elections and traded power for years," reads the New York Times. "He won in a landslide, trouncing his two rivals, both major-party candidates."
Mayor Shah had obtained 61,767 votes to beat his nearest rival by 23,426 votes in the local level polls held on 13 May 2023.
Just after a few months of Mayor Shah's coverage in the New York Times, another renowned media outlet has introduced him with the term 'Balen effect.' This year, the magazine has incorporated Shah's name along with various emerging leaders across the globe.
In a short biography of Mayor Shah, TIME magazine said, "When Balendra Shah emerged as the unlikely winner of Kathmandu's mayoral election in May 2022, his trademark square, black-and-gold sunglasses quickly began selling out in Nepal's capital."
The 33-year-old, who has a masters degree in structural engineering, ran as an independent and used TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram to harness voter anger over the status quo - sparking a 'Balen effect' that saw as many as 385 independent candidates triumph over veteran politicians in last spring's local elections, according to the magazine.
"In a city still reeling from the deadly 2015 earthquake, Shah's campaign promises were simple but offered desperately needed fixes: better waste disposal and sanitation, safe drinking water, clean roads, and preservation of cultural heritage alongside urban development," reads TIME.
The magazine has pointed out that Mayor Shah's efforts to make good on these promises have been met with scrutiny, particularly with regard to their impact on the city's poor and their reliance on demolishing buildings deemed illegal.
Since coming to power, Mayor Shah has signed agreements with officials to utilise landfill sites and announced plans to separate degradable and nondegradable waste.
The magazine is also slated to hold an event for those listed in the TIME100 Next in New York City in October.
TIME magazine, which has been traditionally listing Person of the Year and TIME100, launched the TIME100 Next in 2019 as part of its effort to evolve how TIME tells stories. The list also includes rising leaders such as astronaut Victor J Glover; Roberta Metsola, the youngest-ever president of the European Parliament and Michael Regan, the first black man to lead the EPA Administration.
Elected in 2022 as Taipei's youngest-ever mayor, Chiang Wan-an has pledged to bring 'new blood' to Taiwan's Kuomintang which is referred to as the Nationalists. Likewise, Humza Yousaf, the first South Asian leader of Scotland and the first Muslim leader of Western democracy; first Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko; Indian women's cricket captain Harmanpreet Kaur; among others, have been included in the list.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 15, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
