Balendra Shah's RSP makes history, registers landmark victory in Nepal election

Rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah's RSP is all set to form the government in Nepal after securing a sweeping victory in the crucial general election, decimating the established parties in the politically-fragile Himalayan country.

Popularly known as "Balen", the 35-year-old prime-ministerial candidate of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) defeated four-time former prime minister K P Sharma Oli, the chair of Nepal's legacy party -- the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) -- by a huge margin of about 50,000 votes in the Jhapa-5 constituency.

Balen secured 68,348 votes against 74-year-old Oli's 18,734, the Election Commission (EC) said.

Balen is expected to be the next prime minister of Nepal, reflecting a public mood of rejection of established parties.

He will be the first Madhesi prime minister of the Himalayan country and also the youngest to occupy the top post in Nepal's parliamentary history.

The RSP, which was formed in 2022 by Ravi Lamichhane, has won 107 of the 138 seats, for which results were declared by the Election Commission till 10 am on Sunday.

The RSP's seats include a clean sweep in all 15 constituencies of three districts in Kathmandu Valley, the EC data showed.

Legacy parties failed to convince voters for whom the major issues included fighting corruption and an end to nepotism apart from a generational change in political leadership of the Himalayan nation.

The Nepali Congress (NC) is a distant second with just 15 seats won and leading in three.

The CPN-UML won just seven seats and is leading in three, the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) won six seats and is leading in one, the Shrama Shakti Party (SSP) has won one and is leading in two seats, and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) won one seat, the EC data showed. Among the winners is one independent.

Former deputy speaker Indira Rana Magar, of the RSP, won from Jhapa-2 by defeating the speaker of the dissolved House of Representatives and senior leader of CPN-UML Dev Raj Ghimire.

Rana Magar won by a huge margin of 48,742 votes against Ghimire, who secured 11,368 votes.

Nepali Congress president Gagan Thapa, 49, who was projected as his party’s prime ministerial candidate, lost from Dhanusha-4 constituency to Amaresh Singh of the RSP.

Singh received 33,688 votes against Thapa’s 22,831, according to the Election Commission.

Other senior leaders of Nepali Congress, including general secretary Guru Raj Ghimire, Shekhar Koirala and Bimalendra Nidhi, also faced defeat.

Ten office bearers of the CPN-UML, including the party's general secretary Shankar Pokharel, also lost the election.

Other leaders of the CPN-UML who lost were vice presidents Bishnu Paudel, Prithvi Subba Gurung and Gokarna Bista, deputy general secretary Raghubir Mahaseth, and secretaries Sherdhan Rai, Mahesh Basnet, Rajan Bhattarai and Bhanubhakta Dhakal.

Nepal witnessed about 60 per cent voter turnout during the March 5 election to the House of Representatives. The counting of votes started late on Thursday night and as of Sunday morning, counting was in progress in the remaining seats of the total 165 constituencies, the EC said.

The election was being closely watched by India, which is hoping for a stable government in the politically-fragile Himalayan country to take forward the developmental partnership between the two sides.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the people and government of Nepal on Saturday for the successful conduct of the election.

"It is heartening to see my Nepali sisters and brothers exercise their democratic rights so vibrantly. This historic milestone is a proud moment in Nepal's democratic journey," Modi said in a post on X.

He also said as a close friend and neighbour, India remains steadfast in its commitment to working closely with the people of Nepal and its new government to scale new heights of shared peace, progress and prosperity.

Oli, who too was projected as the prime-ministerial face of the CPN-UML, wished Balen a full five-year tenure for his government in a country that has seen 14 governments in the last 18 years.

"Balen babu, congratulations for the victory. I wish your five year tenure be trouble free, successful and hearty congratulations," Oli wrote in a social media post and attached a 2022 photo showing him gifting a tabla to Balen after the rapper-turned politician won the mayoral polls in Kathmandu as an Independent candidate.

RSP chairman Lamichhane won with a huge margin from the Chitwan-2 constituency, marking his third consecutive victory, with 54,402 votes against his nearest rival, NC's Mina Kumari Kharel, who received 14,564 votes.

According to the EC, former prime minister and NCP leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' won from Rukum Purba district by securing 10,240 votes against his rival, Lilamani Gautam of the CPN-UML, who got 3,462 votes.

RPP's Gyanendra Shahi won from the Jumla constituency of Karnali province by defeating his closest rival, Naresh Bhandari of the NCP, and became the only candidate of the pro-monarchist party to have secured a seat in the House of Representatives.

The election also saw 10 women candidates emerge victorious -- nine from the RSP and one from the NC.

Meanwhile, the RSP is also leading in proportional voting system with the party bagging 13,79,280 votes followed by Nepali Congress with 4,68,066. The CPN-UML has received 3,77,974, the Nepali Communist Party 1,81,136, the RPP 1,00,674, and the Shrama Shakti Party 56,235 votes till now.

Of the 275 members of Parliament, 165 are being elected through direct voting, while the remaining 110 through a proportionate method.

Around 3,400 candidates were vying for 165 seats under direct voting and 3,135 candidates for 110 seats through proportionate voting.

The Gen Z, through its 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 the Nepali Congress that enjoyed nearly two-thirds majority support.

Though Balen was a popular choice to lead the interim government after Oli's ouster, he declined to lead the interim administration, saying he would prefer to contest the parliamentary election for a full term.

In January, he joined the RSP and was soon declared the party's prime-ministerial candidate.

The major issues raised by Gen Z before and during the election campaign were anti-corruption, good governance, an end to nepotism, a generational change in the political leadership, etc.

Sunil Babu Pant, former MP and a political analyst, said, "The victory of the Rastriya Swatantra Party in the March 5 election and the expectation that Balen Shah could emerge as Nepal's next prime minister reflect the people's deep-rooted frustration with the old political order and their hope for a new direction."

"As Balen assumes the country's leadership, his first responsibility must be to demonstrate that corruption will not be tolerated under any circumstances," he said.

Balen will also face a complex geopolitical challenge, Pant said, adding, "He must prove that he is not a puppet of any external power, western or otherwise. Nepal's leadership must carefully balance relations with all global actors and pursue an independent foreign policy that prioritises national interest."