Kathmandu, March 8 – Balendra Shah, the rapper-turned-politician, and his newly formed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) have achieved a landslide victory in Nepal's general elections, significantly weakening established parties in the politically unstable Himalayan nation.
According to the Election Commission (EC), the RSP, formed in 2022 by Ravi Lamichhane, won 117 out of the 165 directly elected seats, and is leading in another eight in the House of Representatives elections.
The EC has announced results for 152 of the 165 seats.
The Nepali Congress (NC) is in a distant second place, winning 17 seats.
The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), led by ousted prime minister K P Sharma Oli, has secured only seven seats and is leading in three.
The Nepal Communist Party has won seven seats, while the Shram Sanskriti Party has won two and is leading in one, and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) has won one seat. One independent candidate also won.
The RSP's victories include a clean sweep in all 15 constituencies of three districts in the Kathmandu Valley, according to EC data.
35-year-old Balen, the RSP's prime ministerial candidate, defeated four-time former prime minister K P Sharma Oli, chair of Nepal's CPN-UML, by a significant margin of approximately 50,000 votes in Jhapa-5.
Balen received 68,348 votes compared to Oli's 18,734, according to the EC.
Balen is expected to become the next prime minister of Nepal, reflecting a public desire for change.
He will be the first Madhesi prime minister of the Himalayan country and also the youngest to hold the top position in Nepal's parliamentary history.
The major issues that voters were concerned about included fighting corruption and an end to nepotism, alongside a generational change in political leadership.
Former deputy speaker Indira Rana Magar, of the RSP, defeated speaker of the dissolved House of Representatives and senior leader of CPN-UML Dev Raj Ghimire in Jhapa-2.
Rana Magar won by a margin of 48,742 votes against Ghimire, who received 11,368 votes.
Nepali Congress president Gagan Thapa, 49, who was projected as his party's prime ministerial candidate, lost to Amaresh Singh of the RSP in Dhanusha-4.
Singh received 33,688 votes compared to Thapa's 22,831, according to the EC.
Other senior leaders of the Nepali Congress, including general secretary Guru Raj Ghimire, Shekhar Koirala, and Bimalendra Nidhi, also lost their seats.
Ten office bearers of the CPN-UML, including the party's general secretary Shankar Pokharel, also lost the election.
Other losing candidates of the CPN-UML included vice presidents Bishnu Paudel, Prithvi Subba Gurung, and Gokarna Bista, deputy general secretary Raghubir Mahaseth, and secretaries Sherdhan Rai, Mahesh Basnet, Rajan Bhattarai, and Bhanubhakta Dhakal.
Harka Rai, chairman of the Shram Sanskriti Party, won from Sunsari-1, defeating RSP candidate Goma Tamang.
RSP chairman Lamichhane won with a significant margin in the Chitwan-2 constituency, securing his third consecutive victory with 54,402 votes compared to NC's Mina Kumari Kharel, who received 14,564 votes.
According to the EC, former prime minister and NCP leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' won from Rukum Purba district by securing 10,240 votes against his rival, Lilamani Gautam of the CPN-UML, who received 3,462 votes.
RPP's Gyanendra Shahi won from the Jumla constituency of Karnali province by defeating NCP's Naresh Bhandari and became the sole candidate of the pro-monarchist party to secure a seat in the House of Representatives.
The election also saw 10 female candidates win – nine from the RSP and one from the NC.
Nepal witnessed approximately 60 per cent voter turnout during the March 5 election to the House of Representatives.
The vote counting began late Thursday night and continued through Sunday, according to the EC.
Meanwhile, the RSP is also leading in the proportional voting system with 18,15,857 votes, followed by the Nepali Congress with 6,18,630 votes.
The CPN-UML received 5,19,353 votes, the Nepali Communist Party 2,45,804, the RPP 1,31,277, and the Shram Sanskriti Party 78,072 votes, according to the EC.
The election was closely watched by India, which is hoping for a stable government in the politically-fragile Himalayan country to advance developmental partnerships.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the people and government of Nepal on Saturday for the successful conduct of the election.
"It is heartening to see my Nepali sisters and brothers exercise their democratic rights so vibrantly. This historic milestone is a proud moment in Nepal's democratic journey," Modi said in a post on X.
He also said that India remains committed to working closely with the people of Nepal and its new government to achieve new heights of shared peace, progress, and prosperity.
Oli, who was also projected as the prime ministerial candidate of the CPN-UML, congratulated Balen on his victory and wished him a successful and trouble-free five-year tenure.
"Balen babu, congratulations for the victory. I wish your five-year tenure be successful and hearty congratulations," Oli wrote in a social media post and attached a 2022 photo showing him gifting a tabla to Balen after the rapper-turned-politician won the mayoral polls in Kathmandu as an Independent candidate.
Of the 275 members of Parliament, 165 are being elected through direct voting, while the remaining 110 are being elected through a proportional method.
Around 3,400 candidates were vying for 165 seats under direct voting, and 3,135 candidates for 110 seats through proportional voting.
The Gen Z, through its two-day intensified protests on September 8 and 9 last year, ousted Prime Minister Oli, who was heading a coalition government with the backing of the Nepali Congress that enjoyed nearly two-thirds majority support.
Though Balen was a popular choice to lead the interim government after Oli's ouster, he declined to lead the interim administration, saying he would prefer to contest the parliamentary election for a full term.
In January, he joined the RSP and was soon declared the party's prime-ministerial candidate.
The major issues raised by Gen Z before and during the election campaign were anti-corruption, good governance, an end to nepotism, a generational change in political leadership, etc.
Sunil Babu Pant, former MP and a political analyst, said, "The victory of the RSP in the March 5 election and the expectation that Balen Shah could emerge as Nepal's next prime minister reflect the people's deep-rooted frustration with the old political order and their hope for a new direction."
"As Balen assumes the country's leadership, his first responsibility must be to demonstrate that corruption will not be tolerated under any circumstances," he said.
Balen will also face a complex geopolitical challenge, Pant said, adding, "He must prove that he is not a puppet of any external power, western or otherwise. Nepal's leadership must carefully balance relations with all global actors and pursue an independent foreign policy that prioritises national interest."
