Is Balendra Shah more hardline towards India than KP Oli? Should India be concerned?

Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah is emerging as a bold youth leader in Nepal. His nationalist steps, including banning Bollywood films and releasing the “Greater Nepal” map, raise questions about his stance on India.

New Delhi: After the recent major political changes in Nepal, two names are in the news—Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah (Balen Shah) and Sudan Gurung. Among them, Balen Shah is in the most headlines, whose working style, speeches, and some decisions have made him a hero of the youth. However, some of his statements and steps have also been considered anti-India.

Studied in India but has a critical attitude towards India

Balendra Shah has received his higher engineering education from the state of Karnataka, India. He did his master's degree in structural engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum. However, he does not discuss much about his Indian education publicly. This fact becomes even more interesting regarding some of his decisions considered anti-India.

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Case of ban on Bollywood films

In 2023, Balen Shah banned Bollywood films in Kathmandu. The reason for this was the dialogue in the film "Adipurush," in which Mata Sita was called "Bharat ki beti." Balen said that this is an insult to the belief of Nepal, because according to Nepali culture, Mata Sita was born in Janakpur, Nepal.

He gave the filmmakers three days ultimatum to remove the dialogue from the film. When the dialogue was not removed, all Hindi films were banned. However, later the Patan High Court declared this ban illegal.

Controversial map of "Greater Nepal"

Balen Shah released a map of "Greater Nepal," in which many parts of India were shown as part of Nepal. It included areas like Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Darjeeling, and Siliguri.

This move caused controversy in India. Balen's move was seen in response to the map of "Akhand Bharat" installed in India's new Parliament. Nepal's constitutionalists called it impractical and beyond limited jurisdiction, as the mayor is only responsible for the Kathmandu city area.

Is Balendra Shah anti-India?

Some steps seem to indicate that Balendra Shah is inclined towards extremist thinking of nationalism. Two major steps taken by him—the ban on Bollywood and the Greater Nepal map—show opposition to India. However, he has never openly launched an anti-India campaign. His opposition seems to be limited to specific issues.

Balendra Shah has the image of a strong, clean, and decisive leader who is being supported by the youth of Nepal. Even though some of his decisions are surrounded by controversies, he represents the new politics of Nepal at the present time. Whether he is anti-India or not, only time will tell, but at the moment he has rapidly emerged as a leader with a nationalist image.