Balendra Shah, former mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City and prime ministerial candidate of Rashtriya Swatantra Party arrives to receive his victory certificate after defeating former Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli of Communist Party of Nepal – Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) Nepal, 2430 kilometers south-east of Nepal. Sunday, March 8, 2026.
Niranjan Shrestha/AP
Hide caption
Toggle title
Niranjan Shrestha/AP
KATHMANDU, Nepal — A Nepali political party led by a former rapper is poised for a landslide victory in the country’s first parliamentary elections after Gen Z protests ousted the old leadership that ruled the Himalayan nation for decades.
The Rashtriya Swatantra Party, formed just four years ago, won 103 out of 165 directly elected seats and led in 21 other constituencies in results announced by the Election Commission of Nepal on Sunday morning.
Other political parties and independent candidates have won a total of 27 seats so far. Officials were still counting votes on Sunday and final results are expected later in the week.
Rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah, who won the 2022 Kathmandu mayoral race, is the party’s prime ministerial candidate. He emerged as a key figure in the 2025 coup that ousted former Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli.
In Nepal, voters directly elect 165 members to the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament. The remaining 110 seats in the 275-member body are allocated through a proportional representation system, under which political parties are allocated seats based on their vote share. On Sunday, RSP secured 51% lead in 110 seats.
The relatively new RSP has ousted two long-dominant parties: the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), who rule the country.
Local newspapers called the sweeping victory a historic moment. “RSP is all set for a landslide victory,” said the popular The Himalayan Times. “Revolt of people’s vote; change in political paradigm,” said the Annapurna Post.
RSP supporters celebrated the victory in many constituencies and celebrated by giving garlands, bouquets, scarves and applying red vermilion powder to the winners.
Party officials, however, have asked their candidates and supporters to refrain from victory rallies or any other public celebrations as a mark of respect for the tens of lives lost during last year’s youth-led protests.
In Nepal, voters get two ballot papers, one to choose a candidate nominated by a political party and another to choose a party of their choice.
The RSP has more than half of the directly elected seats and the results of the second ballot show that the party has more than 50% of the votes in its favour. The support of half of the total members in the lower house of Parliament is required to form the government.
Last year’s protests against corruption and poor governance were sparked by a social media ban before snowballing into a popular uprising against the government. Dozens died and hundreds were injured when protesters stormed government buildings and police opened fire on them.
