Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balen Shah has intensified efforts to form a new political alliance by uniting leaders from various parties, Gen Z representatives, and former Bibeksheel Sajha Party leaders, targeting the elections scheduled for March 5, 2026.
Shah, who has been holding "marathon meetings" over the past two days at the residence of his close aide Kumar Byanjankar in Kupandol, Lalitpur, has not only sent a clear message that he is entering parliamentary politics but has also called on all new forces to unite and contest the elections together.
"I have now entered active politics; let's all unite and head into the elections," a leader who participated in various rounds of discussions with Shah quoted him as saying.
Shah has been asking the Gen Z representatives and leaders invited to meetings whether they support him in this political campaign, the leader said.
According to the leader, Shah is currently preparing to bring leaders from various parties, Gen Z representatives, and former Bibeksheel Sajha leaders into the Desh Bikash Party and field candidates nationwide in the upcoming elections through the party.
"I might contest from one constituency, but if only I run, no change can be brought. I need people to contest for the remaining 164 seats. I also need more people for proportional seats. For this, I need the support and cooperation of everyone who can or wants to join this campaign," Shah has been saying during the meetings.
The leader said that Shah is continuously engaged in discussions with all sides for this very purpose.
We spoke with former Bibeksheel Sajha leader Milan Pandey, who was part of those meetings with Shah. He confirmed that Shah is seriously engaged in discussions with various groups to enter active politics targeting the upcoming elections.
Pandey, who has already met Shah twice in the last two days, said, "If politics moves forward according to the recent meetings with Balen ji, it will be good for the country. He has intensified meetings with all new and old forces including Gen Z representatives and Bibeksheel Sajha. In those meetings, I have also been playing the role of a facilitator to coordinate and take everyone along."
Pandey said that all those meetings are progressing cordially, and expressed hope for concrete results in a few days.
One main reason Shah has intensified the discussions is that the deadline for submission of proportional representation (PR) candidates list is only a few days away. Political parties must submit their closes lists of PR candidates to the Election Commission on December 28 and 29. According to a source, the Desh Bikash Party is preparing to finalize candidates for 110 constituencies by Saturday and submit its list to the commission.
Shah has held discussions with Nepali Congress leaders Chandra Bhandari and Sunil Sharma, Nagarik Unmukti Party patron Resham Chaudhary, Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) spokesperson Gyanendra Shahi, Janamat Party Chairman CK Raut, Dr Bhagawan Koirala, Gen Z activists Rakshya Bam, Sagar Dhakal, KP Khanal, actor Nischal Basnet, and others.
It is also almost finalized that Shah and Energy Minister Kulman Ghising will move forward together, said one of the leaders who met Shah.
When the topic of Ghising came up during the meetings, Shah reportedly said, "Kulman ji is with us. Don't worry about him. We are together."
The Ujyaalo Nepal Party, associated with Ghising, is already registered with the Election Commission. When asked whether, in this situation, Ujyaalo Nepal Party and Desh Bikash Party will only form an electoral alliance or how they will proceed, the leader said, "Anything is possible. Discussions are also being held on the possibility of Kulman ji joining the Desh Bikash Party by making the Ujyaalo Nepal Party inactive. If that doesn't work out, the option of merging both parties is also open."
The Desh Bikash Party is registered with the Election Commission. Its chairperson is Sandhya Khanal, and the election symbol is a walking stick. Shah was elected mayor of Kathmandu in the 2022 local elections under the same symbol.
Shah intensified his political meetings after meeting Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane on Monday night.
During the meeting, Lamichhane proposed collaborating by proposing Shah as the prime ministerial candidate. However, since he did not receive any concrete proposal regarding this, Shah moved forward with preparations to form a separate political alliance from his side, said a leader close to him.
The sources also said that Shah and Lamichhane are currently holding "decisive" talks regarding the proposal put forward by the RSP. Earlier, Shah also met Ghising on Thursday morning, the source added.
Shah has been saying that he will also talks with Harka Sampang, mayor of Dharan Sub-metropolitan City and chairman of Shram Sanskriti Party, and that they will move forward together.
