Test Of Balendra Shah's Leadership

Balendra Shah is tentatively set to take the oath as the Prime Minister of Nepal next week.  Former Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Shah was projected as prime minister at the behest of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) that grabbed the landslide majority in the snap polls held on March 5, 2026. The official tally has made it clear that RSP has bagged nearly two-thirds majority seats in the House of the Representatives (HoR) – a feat that is reminiscent of the first democratic election held in 1959, when Nepali Congress party led by BP Koirala had secured two-thirds majority in the national parliament and set up the first multi-party democratic government in the history of Nepal. 

In the electoral masterstroke, RSP routed the decades-old dominance of traditional legacy parties, including the Nepali Congress, the CPN-UML, the Nepali Communist Party, and many other regional political groups. Shah’s doer image as the mayor of the Kathmandu metropolis, coupled with his popularity among the young voters and RSP Rabi Lamichhane’s acumen to orchestrate the poll campaign strategically, combined to make a thunderous win in the polls.  Shah is poised to become the prime minister of the country, whereas RSP as a party organisation, will be led by Lamichhane as the party president.

Popular mandate 

Balendra Shah is taking over the mantle of the government, riding on the crest of a strong popular mandate, smashing previous political records. By professional training, Shah is a structural engineer who has completed a Master's in structural engineering from an institute in Bangalore affiliated with Technological University named after the famous structural engineer Visveswayara, who is said to have prepared the design of the Koshi Barrage on the Nepal-India border. However, critics note that technical expertise alone isn’t sufficient for national political leadership. 

Politics demands negotiation, coalition-building, and adeptness in economic, social, and foreign policy - skill sets that engineers do not usually cultivate in their profession. But history shows that with the right team and a supportive political ecosystem, engineers can adapt, thrive, and become a successful development leader. Even the successful leaders or the heads of the states like Jawahar Lal Nehru, Franklin D. Roosevelt , Dwight D. Eisenhower  and many others had succeeded in achieving success in their development endeavors as they had relied on the technical expertise of engineers and technocrats. 

China’s leadership after Deng Xiaoping deliberately promoted engineers and technocrats in political leadership because they were seen as good at planning large infrastructure and industrial development. Incumbent president of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping, has been a chemical engineer by education and training.  Engineers can therefore be a good leaders as education in civil and structural engineering allows for a systemic approach to politics and governance. 

Unlike many traditional politicians who come from social science or party politics background, engineers have the advantage to view the city and government as a system that can be engineered, optimised, and redesigned in a precise manner. Moreover, structural engineers are trained to see structures as interconnected systems - foundation, columns, loads, stresses, and resilience. As a structural engineer Shah will have an advantage to apply a similar mindset to governance and development and treat governance like a complex network system with interconnected parts. 

 This is quite different from patronage-driven administrative decisions common in Nepal. Many observers who carefully noticed Shah’s style in Kathmandu metropolis describe his leadership as technocratic rather than ideological. His leadership style includes characteristics such as reliance on experts and technical teams, use of digital platforms, preference for administrative efficiency over political compromise, and so on. Shah’s engineering and technocratic image resonates with Nepal’s young voters because he represents meritocracy, professional competence, anti-corruption sentiment, and so on. This partly explains his strong popularity among urban youth.      

Saha’s trajectory from structural engineer to Kathmandu’s Mayor and the prime minister of the country is a big surprise in Nepal’s political milieu. But whether an engineer successfully transitions into the complex world of national governance and statecraft has been questioned in some quarters. But evidence substantiates that many around the world have done so, albeit typically in broader engineering fields blending technical acumen with administrative leadership. Nepal isn’t the only country to see engineers rise into leadership roles 

Urban governance 

As a mayor, Shah has already dealt with high-profile urban governance issues, from infrastructure planning to regulatory enforcement. His record in Kathmandu triumphing as an independent candidate against powerful traditional party contenders demonstrates political acumen and organisational capability that transcend his technical background. Due to this reason, Shah’s structural engineering background could be an asset for his role as the prime minister of the country. Incontestably, political leadership is different from technical leadership. Engineers may struggle with compromise politics, where consensus often outweighs purely rational outcomes. National governance involves external relations, macro-economic strategies, and social policy, areas that require broad interdisciplinary exposure beyond technical expertise.  

Anyway, Shah’s ascendance in the challenging post of prime minister represents more than personal accomplishment. It reflects a generational desire for change, especially among the voters frustrated with the gerontocracy’s stagnation and corruption. His engineering mindset, coupled with his political instincts, might help him lead innovative policy frameworks if anchored by experienced, educated, and forward-looking advisers in economics, diplomacy, and governance. Whether he emerges as a successful prime minister will depend on his ability to translate analytical skills into political action, build broad coalitions, and navigate Nepal’s intricate political dynamics. Global examples show that engineers have impressively succeeded in leadership roles when they combine technical acumen with political savvy, probity and integrity.

(The author is presently associated with Policy Research Institute (PRI) as a senior research fellow.  rijalmukti@gmail.com)