Saturday, 07 March 2026
Saturday, 07 March 2026
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the citizens and government of Nepal for successfully conducting their first general election, with the results pointing to a clean sweep by rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah's newly formed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP).
"This historic milestone is a proud moment in Nepal’s democratic journey" Modi said.
This was Nepal's first general elections since the violent Gen Z protests, shattering the dominance of established political parties.
The RSP, which was formed in 2022 by Ravi Lamichhane, has won 39 of the 50 seats declared so far, including a clean sweep in 10 constituencies of Kathmandu district, and is leading in 80 others, according to the Election Commission.
'Balen', as he is popularly known, projected himself as the "son of Madhesh" during the campaign, and the party had launched the campaign "Ab ki bar Balendra Sarkar" (This time there will be Balendra's government).
Of the total 32 seats in eight districts of Madhesh province, the RSP has won seven and is leading in 23 other constituencies.
The party is also making a clean sweep in the Kathmandu Valley, winning all 10 seats of Kathmandu district and two in Bhaktapur and one in Lalitpur district.
The Nepali Congress has secured victory in six seats and is leading in another 12. The Nepali Communist Party has won two seats and is leading in another six.
The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) of ousted prime minister K P Sharma Oli has won two seats and is leading in eight.
The Shram Sanskriti Party and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party are leading in four seats each.
One seat was won by an independent. Vote counting is in progress in 162 of the 165 constituencies, according to the Election Commission.
RSP chairman Ravi Lamichhane won with a huge 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.
The RSP is also leading in the proportional voting system, with the party bagging 126,503 votes, followed by Nepali Congress with 38,343.
The CPN (UML) has received 28,721, Rastriya Prajatantra Party 10,962, Nepali Communist Party 10,794 and Shrama Shakti Party 6,474 votes till now.
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 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.
