Balendra “Balen” Shah’s newly formed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) surged to a commanding position in Nepal’s general election, dealing a sharp setback to the country’s long-dominant parties and underscoring a wider generational shift in politics.
With results reported from 161 of 165 constituencies by the Election Commission, the RSP has secured 27 direct seats and swept all 10 constituencies in Kathmandu. The Nepali Congress has won five seats so far, the Nepali Communist Party two and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) one. Beyond victories already declared, the RSP led vote counts in an additional 97 constituencies. The Nepali Congress, Nepali Communist Party and CPN (UML) were each leading in 10 constituencies; the Shram Sanskriti Party led in five; and other parties led in two, according to Election Commission figures.
In a high-profile upset, Shah, a 35-year-old engineer, rapper-turned-politician and former mayor of Kathmandu, defeated four-time prime minister and CPN-UML chair K P Sharma Oli in Jhapa-5. Shah received 39,284 votes to Oli’s 10,293 in that constituency. Shah’s rapid rise — he joined the RSP in January after declining an interim government leadership offer — and his appeal to younger voters makes him widely viewed as a likely candidate for prime minister, as voters express frustration with established parties after Nepal saw 14 governments in 18 years.
The RSP was founded in 2022 by Ravi Lamichhane and quickly elevated Shah as its prime ministerial candidate. The Nepali Congress fielded party president Gagan Thapa, while CPN (UML) backed Oli; both of those parties had been part of the government ousted after mass Gen Z protests last year.
The Election Commission also reported former Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda won Rukum Purba with 10,240 votes, defeating CPN (UML) rival Lilamani Gautam, who received 3,462 votes.
Nepal’s House of Representatives has 275 members: 165 elected by direct vote and 110 by proportional representation. About 18.9 million voters were eligible for this election, with turnout roughly 60 percent. Some 3,400 candidates contested the 165 direct seats, while 3,135 vied for the 110 proportional seats.
The Gen Z protests on September 8–9 last year helped topple Oli’s coalition and thrust issues such as anti-corruption, improved governance, an end to nepotism and a generational change in leadership to the forefront of the campaign. After Oli’s removal, President Ramchandra Paudel dissolved the House on September 12 and appointed Sushila Karki as caretaker prime minister.
India monitored the vote closely, seeking a stable Nepali government to continue development cooperation. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi looked forward to working with Nepal’s new government and noted India had provided logistical supplies to support the elections at Kathmandu’s request.
As final counts and proportional-seat allocations continue, the results point to a major realignment in Nepali politics, driven by youthful voters and a growing appetite for alternatives to the traditional parties.
