Balen Shah's Bengaluru Engineering Days: Professors Recall Disciplined Student Before Political Rise

Bangalore. In Nepal's political sphere, one name is currently highly discussed – Balen Shah. Having entered politics from the rap scene, he has emerged in a short time and is now viewed as the country's future Prime Minister.

However, many may not know that Shah once studied at the Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology (NMIT) in Bangalore, India, where he completed his M.Tech in Structural Engineering (a branch of Civil Engineering).

According to the Election Commission's announcement, Balendra Shah (Balen), a senior leader of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), won the parliamentary election from Jhapa-5. He defeated his strong competitor and former Prime Minister, KP Sharma Oli. With the RSP securing a landslide majority in the elections, Balen's path to becoming Prime Minister is almost set as he enters the lower house of parliament.

In a special conversation with NDTV, professors from NMIT who taught Shah expressed pride in seeing one of their former students emerge as a major political figure in Nepal.

Professor Shreyas AV of the Civil Engineering Department, who taught him subjects like Mechanics of Deformable Bodies and Finite Element Methods, remembers Shah as a disciplined and goal-oriented student. According to him, Shah enrolled in the institute in 2016 along with two other Nepali students, Sunil Lamsal and Pravin Shrestha, and they were part of the college's first autonomous batch.

“We are very happy to see him reach this height. He was very punctual and obedient. Balendra was somewhat quiet in nature,” said Professor Shreyas.

He added, “Although there was a rapper hidden inside Shah, he rarely showed that side on the college campus.”

Interestingly, Shah did not show any clear political inclination while at the institute. Rather, professors remember him for his academic commitment.

“As a student here, he rarely expressed any political leanings. But he was very serious about his studies. They would come with many curiosities and would only leave after clarifying those doubts, even in the evening,” Professor Shreyas recalled.

NMIT Vice President Sandeep Shastri considers Shah a proud alumnus of the institution and described his rise as “another jewel in the crown” for the university.

“It is a matter of great honor for an institution like ours that a person who studied here eight years ago is reaching the level of leading the government of a neighboring country,” he said. “He was a hardworking student who completed his work on time, did his internship well, and was very disciplined. At that time, we had many Nepali students, and he was a source of inspiration for others as well.”

Before entering politics, Shah was very popular for his Nepali rap music. However, according to his professors, he never performed or rapped on the college campus.

Most of his music was in the Nepali language, and his artistic side remained largely hidden in a small class of only about 24 students.

But one of his academic interests was clear – Earthquake Engineering. Shah worked on projects related to this subject and completed an internship connected to this field around the time a major earthquake struck Nepal. According to professors, this reflected his desire to return home and contribute something to society.

As Shah's political stature grows, from a rapper to the Mayor of Kathmandu and now a national leader, NMIT stated they would be delighted to welcome him to the campus someday. “If he visits India, we would certainly like to invite him here. It would be an honor for us and an inspiration for our students,” said Vice President Sandeep Shastri.