Balendra Shah's Rastriya Swatantra Party is on track to achieve a landslide victory in Nepal's first general elections since the Gen Z protests. According to the Nepal Election Commission, the RSP has won 34 seats, securing a clean sweep in all 10 constituencies of the Kathmandu district, and is leading in another 86 seats in the elections held on Thursday.
Balendra Shah won from the Jhapa-5 constituency with 42,543 votes, defeating four-time Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, who secured only 11,427 votes.
The Nepali Congress has won 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), led by 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 is leading in one seat. One seat was won by an independent candidate. RSP Chairman Ravi Lamichhane won with a significant margin from the Chitwan-2 constituency, marking his third consecutive victory.
Popularly known as Balen, the 35-year-old engineer is expected to be the next Prime Minister of Nepal, reflecting the public's rejection of established political parties. Nepal has had 14 different governments in the last 18 years.