Spread the love

Kathmandu, Jan 18: Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balendra Shah, known as Balen, has resigned from his post. Following his resignation, Deputy Mayor Sunita Dangol has assumed charge as the acting mayor of the metropolis.

Mayor Shah is set to file his candidacy from Jhapa 5 in the House of Representatives election scheduled for Falgun 21, which falls on March 5, 2026, with the aim of becoming prime minister. With his departure, the leadership of Kathmandu Metropolitan City now rests with Deputy Mayor Dangol.

According to Deputy Mayor Dangol, Sudip Dhakal delivered Mayor Shah’s resignation letter to the metropolitan office at Kathmandu Plaza. After receiving the letter, Dangol contacted Mayor Shah by phone to confirm the resignation.

“After the letter arrived, I spoke to the mayor over the phone. When he asked me to approve it today itself, I moved the process forward,” Dangol said.

At the metropolitan headquarters in Kathmandu Plaza, staff members and elected representatives were waiting to bid farewell to Mayor Shah and offer their best wishes.

“At first, around 10:35 am, employees had prepared at the office to see off Mayor Balen. Later, there was talk that he would not resign since the mayor’s post would automatically be vacated after filing candidacy. But when we finally saw the letter directly, we felt disappointed,” said a department chief at the metropolis.

Employees had wished to meet Balen in person to wish him well for his political future. But Shah could not come to the office due to a busy schedule, and a direct meeting did not take place.

“We respected him as our mayor for so long. Even if he is aiming to become prime minister, it would have been nice to part on a cheerful note with us, but that did not happen,” an employee said.

Deputy Mayor Dangol said, “We all wanted to properly wish him well, but due to his busy schedule, he could not make it to the office.”

In a brief conversation with Ratopati, Deputy Mayor Dangol confirmed that Mayor Shah’s resignation has been approved and that she has taken charge as acting mayor as provided by law.

People’s News Monitoring Service