Newchecker.in is an independent fact-checking initiative of NC Media Networks Pvt. Ltd. We welcome our readers to send us claims to fact check. If you believe a story or statement deserves a fact check, or an error has been made with a published fact check
Contact Us: [email protected]
Uncategorized
Claim
Kathmandu Metropolitan City mayor Balen Shah has been appointed as the new Prime Minister.
Fact
The viral claim is false.
A video allegedly showing Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Mayor Balen Shah taking the oath of office after his appointment as the new prime minister is going viral on TikTok.
After Prime Minister K P Oli stepped down on Tuesday after widespread anti-corruption protests, Nepal has plunged into a political uncertainty. The Nepal Army took over security management from Monday night, and President Ram Chandra Poudel has appealed to Nepali youth to come to the negotiating table. In the wake of the political vacuum, speculations about the future political course are being discussed and shared online.
Against this backdrop, TikTok user @zenge.pusta posted a video showing Balen Shah taking the oath of office and secrecy as the new prime minister of Nepal. Text superimposed on the video reads, “The news generation has picked Balen Shah as the new Prime Minister Jaya Nepal.”
The video posted on September 10 has garnered 371.8k likes, 88 k users have shared it. The archived version of the TikTok can be seen here.
Another TikTok user @unfiltered691 posted a 9-second video showing visuals of KMC mayor Balen Shah. Text superimposed on the video reads, “Congrats Balen is the new prime minister of Nepal after KP Oli resigns.”
The video posted on September 10 has garnered 57k likes, 3985 users have shared it and 1062 people have commented until the last count.
The archived version of the TikTok video can be seen here.
Newschecker found the claim to be misleading.
To check the veracity of the claim, we looked up major news portals of Nepal to check the status of the new government formation. We found the latest news on the statement issued by President Ram Chandra Poudel, published on Barhakhari online. In his statement, the President Poudel has said that he has been trying his best to find a way-out from the current crisis from within the constitution and maintain peace and order in the country.
“I urge everyone to support in maintaining peace and order as we are seeking a solution to address the demands of agitating Gen Z citizens,” the statement reads.
We then took a key-frame from the first viral video and ran a reverse search on it. The search led us to a video, dated May 30, 2022, published on the YouTube channel of Janata Television. On checking the video, we found that the video showed then chief election officer Rajkumar Khatiwada administering oath to Shah after he was elected as mayor of Kathmandu.
Further, we found another fresh news reports (See here, here and here) that the youth lawmakers of Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, CPN (Maoist Unified) and Rastriya Swatantra Party holding talks online regarding the demands of Gen Z groups and the way out from the current crisis.
Further, we found another news article, published three hours ago on Deshsanchar online, that President Ram Chandra Poudel, Nepal Army Chief Ashok Sigdel and former Chief Justice Shushila Karki are holding discussions regarding the formation of another government.
We also found several news reports that the Gen Z representatives have agreed to appoint former Chief Justice Sushila Karki as interim Prime Minister which was also endorsed by KMC mayor Balen Shah, who is popular among Gen z.
As the politics has entered into uncertainty after the Gen z movement that forced Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to resign, it is clear from the news that Nepal has not appointed a new prime minister to fill the political vacuum.
No, KMC mayor Balen Shah has not been appointed as the Prime Minister until the time of writing this fact-check article. The viral videos are misleading.
Janata Television, May 30, 2022
Barhakhari , Sept 11, 2025
Setopati , Sept 11, 2025
If you would like us to fact check a claim, give feedback or lodge a complaint, WhatsApp us at 9999499044 or email us at [email protected] You can also visit the Contact Us page and fill the form.
False
