NEW DELHI ,7 March 2026 : Rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah’s newly formed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was on Friday heading towards a sweeping victory in Nepal’s first general elections since the violent Gen Z protests, shattering the dominance of established political parties in the politically fragile nation.
By Saturday, RSP was heading for a sweeping victory, breaking the long-standing dominance of traditional parties in the politically fragile country.
The Nepali Congress has won four seats and is leading in 11 constituencies, while the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) has secured one seat and is ahead in 11 others. The Nepal Communist Party has won two seats and is leading in 10 constituencies. Meanwhile, the Shram Sanskriti Party was ahead in only three seats, down from six earlier.
This was Nepal’s first election since a Gen Z-led revolution in September 2025 turned the Himalayan nation into an unexpected symbol of youth-driven political change.
Balendra Shah, who was the Mayor of Kathmandu till recently, has secured more than 15,000 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 just 3,300 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.
Picture credit social media
