3 minutes of readingKathmanduUpdated: Mar 7, 2026 06:48 am IST
In the first elections after the September 2025 Generation Z protests that ousted KP Sharma Oli’s government, Nepal appeared to have rejected the old guard, voting overwhelmingly for the three-year-old Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and clearing the way for its leader Balendra ‘Balen’ Shah to become Prime Minister.
As vote counting Advancing in 150 constituencies on Friday, the RSP won two seats and advanced in another 106, leaving the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) far behind.
The NC won one seat and was leading in 11; the UML was ahead in 12 electoral districts. The Nepal Communist Party, a united platform of 19 communist groups, including Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s former Maoist Center ‘Prachanda’ and Madhav Kumar Nepal’s United Socialists, was leading in nine constituencies.
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Nepal’s 275-member House of Representatives has 165 seats under the first-past-the-post system and results will be announced on Saturday. The remaining 110 seats fall under the proportional representation system in which the votes obtained through separate ballots by each party will determine how many seats they have obtained.
Balen Shah, 35, a rapper-turned-politician and former mayor of Kathmandu, had taken a healthy lead over his UML rival and former prime minister Oli in Jhapa-5.
While most of the old guard fell, Prachanda survived. He was declared winner of Rukum East constituency.
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In Delhi, the rise to power of the RSP, founded three years ago, and its leader Balen Shah is closely followed. For quite a few years, India’s ties with Nepal have shown signs of strain, especially over unresolved territorial disputes and Beijing’s growing influence.
Gagan Kumar Thapa of the Nepali Congress was narrowly trailing in Sarlahi-4 in the initial phase of counting.
Apart from Oli, others who stayed behind were UML vice-president Bishnu Poudel, Rastriya Prajatantra Party chief Rajendra Lingden, his predecessor Kamal Thapa, Nepali Congress leader Shekhar Koirala, billionaire Binod Chaudhary on an NC ticket, Janamat Party chief CK Raut, Janata Samajwadi Party leader Upendra Yadav, NCP leader and former prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, former UML spokesperson and candidate Dev Raj. Ghimire.
The huge mandate will see RSP chief Rabi Lamichhane control the party. He was Deputy Prime Minister in charge of the Ministry of the Interior.
