Balendra Shah, foreground, former mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City and prime ministerial candidate of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, arrives to receive his victory certificate after defeating former Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli of the Communist Party of Nepal–Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) in Jhapa, about 267 miles (430 kilometers) southeast of Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, March 8, 2026.
Niranjan Shrestha/AP
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Niranjan Shrestha/AP
KATHMANDU, Nepal — A Nepali political party led by an ex-rapper is poised for a landslide victory in the country’s first parliamentary election since Gen Z protests ousted the old leadership that has ruled the Himalayan nation for decades.
The Rastriya Swatantra, or National Independent Party, formed only four years ago, had secured 103 of 165 directly elected seats and was leading in 21 other constituencies in the results announced Sunday by Nepal’s Election Commission.
Other political parties and independent candidates had won a total of 27 seats so far. Officials were still tallying the votes on Sunday, and final results were anticipated later in the week.
The party’s candidate for prime minister is rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah, who emerged as a key figure in the 2025 uprising that removed 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, where political parties are assigned seats based on their share of the vote. On Sunday, RSP also led with about 51% of the 110 seats.
The relatively new RSP has displaced the two long-standing parties: the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist), which have alternated in ruling the country.
Local newspapers hailed the sweeping victory as a historic moment. “RSP set for a landslide victory,” declared The Himalayan Times. “People’s ballot revolt; shift in political paradigm,” echoed Annapurna Post.
RSP supporters celebrated the win in various constituencies, presenting the winners with flower garlands, bouquets, scarfs, and smearing them with red vermilion powder.
However, party officials urged their candidates and supporters to refrain from victory rallies or any public celebrations out of respect for the lives lost during last year’s youth-led protests.
In Nepal, voters receive two ballot papers, one to select a candidate of their choice who is typically a political party nominee, and the other to choose a preferred party.
RSP clearly holds more than half of the directly elected seats, and the results of the second ballot also indicate that the party has more than 50% of the votes in its favor. They need the support of half of the total members in the lower chamber of Parliament to establish a government.
Last year’s protests against corruption and poor governance were sparked by a social media ban before escalating into a popular revolt against the government. Dozens were killed and hundreds wounded as protesters targeted government buildings and faced police gunfire.
