Kathmandu, March 7 Balendra Shah, a rapper-turned-politician, and his newly formed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) were on Saturday poised for a landslide victory in Nepal's first general elections since the violent Gen Z protests, shattering the dominance of established political parties.
According to Election Commission data at 12.30 pm, the RSP has won 34 seats with a clean sweep in all 10 constituencies of the Kathmandu district and is leading in another 86 seats in the elections held on Thursday.
The Nepali Congress has secured victory in six seats and is leading in another 10. The Nepali Communist Party has won two seats and is leading in another eight.
The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) of ousted prime minister K P Sharma Oli has won one seat and is leading in eight.
The Shram Sanskriti Party is leading in four seats while the Rastriya Prajatantra Party in one seat. One seat was won by an independent.
RSP chairman Ravi Lamichhane won with a significant margin from Chitwan-2 constituency, marking his third consecutive victory.
The former home minister secured 54,402 votes against his nearest rival Mina Kumari Kharel from Nepali Congress who received 14,564 votes.
Balendra Shah, who was the mayor of Kathmandu until recently, has secured 42,532 votes in Jhapa-5 constituency against four-time prime minister and CPN-UML chair K P Sharma Oli in the latter's stronghold. Oli has received 11,427 votes so far.
Popularly known as 'Balen', the 35-year-old engineer is expected to be the next prime minister of Nepal, reflecting a public mood of rejection of established parties. Nepal has had 14 governments in the last 18 years.
According to the Election Commission, former premier Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda won from Rukum Purba district. The Nepali Communist Party leader secured 10,240 votes against his rival Lilamani Gautam of CPN (UML), who got 3,462 votes.
The election is being closely watched by India, which hopes for a stable government in the politically fragile Himalayan nation to take forward the developmental partnership between the two sides.
"We look forward to working with the new Government of Nepal to further build on the robust multifaceted ties between our two countries and peoples for mutual benefit," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said in Delhi on Thursday.
He said India has "consistently supported peace, progress and stability in Nepal and in keeping with our commitment, provided logistical supplies as per request from the Government of Nepal for these elections".
Out of a total of 275 members of the Parliament, 165 will be elected through direct voting, while the remaining 110 will be elected through a proportionate method.
In the Nepal elections, about 18.9 million voters were eligible to elect 275 members of the House of Representatives, with around 60 per cent of them turning out to vote on Thursday.
Around 3,400 candidates are vying for 165 seats under direct voting, and 3,135 candidates for 110 seats through proportionate voting.
The Gen Z youth, through their 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 Nepali Congress that enjoyed nearly two-thirds majority support.
Balen was a popular choice to lead the interim government after Gen Z youths toppled the Oli-led coalition government.
But Balen declined to lead the interim administration, saying he would rather head the government by contesting the parliamentary election for a full term.
In January, he joined the RSP, which was formed in 2022 by Ravi Lamichhane, and was soon declared the party's prime ministerial candidate. The RSP received significant support during the campaign.
Nepali Congress president Gagan Thapa was the prime ministerial candidate of his party, whereas the CPN (UML) projected Oli as its PM face. Both Nepali Congress and CPN (UML) were part of the government toppled by the Gen Z last year.
After Oli's ouster, President Ramchandra Paudel dissolved the House of Representatives on September 12 and appointed Sushila Karki as the caretaker PM.
The major issues raised by Gen Z are anti-corruption, good governance, an end to nepotism, generational change in political leadership, etc.