Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) prime ministerial candidate Balendra Shah casting his vote in the Nepal general elections, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (PTI Photo)Nepal Election 2026 Highlights: The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), formed by rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah, is headed 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.
The RSP has won 100 seats out of the 129 seats for which results were declared by 7 am, according to the EC. RSP’s seats include a clean sweep of all 10 constituencies in Kathmandu district, even as it was leading in 25 seats across the country, news agency PTI reported quoting EC data.

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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.
The Nepali Congress (NC), meanwhile, secured 13 seats and was leading in three; the CPN-UML won just seven seats and was leading in three; the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) won six seats and was leading in one seat; the Shrama Shakti Party (SSP) was leading in three seats and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) won one seat, according to the EC.
Polling in Nepal took place on Thursday, with election authorities reporting a voter turnout of around 60 per cent.
Several major political figures and parties competed for power, with key contenders KP Sharma Oli’s Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), Sher Bahadur Deuba’s Nepali Congress, and Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre).
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