Former rapper Balendra Shah’s Rastriya Swatantra Party heading towards landslide victory in Nepal

Kathmandu: Rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah's newly formed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was on Saturday 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.

According to the Election Commission's data available from 161 of the total 165 constituencies, the RSP has won 27 seats with a clean sweep in all 10 constituencies of Kathmandu district in the elections held on Thursday.

The Nepali Congress has secured victory in five seats, the Nepali Communist Party has won two seats and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) has won one.

The RSP is leading in another 97 seats, the Nepali Congress, the Nepali Communist Party and CPN (UML) are leading on 10 seats each, while Shram Sanskriti Party is leading on five. Others are leading on two seats, according to the Election Commission figures till 10 am.

Balendra Shah, who was the mayor of Kathmandu till recently, has secured 39,284 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 10,293 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.

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.

"We look forward to working with the new Government of Nepal to further build on the robust multifaceted ties between our two countries and peoples for mutual benefit," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said in Delhi on Thursday.

He said India has "consistently supported peace, progress and stability in Nepal and in keeping with our commitment, provided logistical supplies as per request from the Government of Nepal for these elections".

Out of a total of 275 members of the Parliament, 165 will be elected through direct voting, while the remaining 110 will be elected through a proportionate method.

In the Nepal elections, 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 Gen Z youth, through their 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 Nepali Congress that enjoyed nearly two-thirds majority support.

Balen was a popular choice to lead the interim government after Gen Z youths toppled the Oli-led coalition government.

But Balen declined to lead the interim administration, saying he would rather head the government by contesting the parliamentary election for a full term.

In January, he joined the RSP, which was formed in 2022 by Ravi Lamichhane, and was soon declared the party's prime ministerial candidate. The RSP received significant support during the campaign.

Nepali Congress president Gagan Thapa was the prime ministerial candidate of his party, whereas the CPN (UML) projected Oli as its PM face. Both Nepali Congress and CPN (UML) were part of the government toppled by the Gen Z last year.

According to the Election Commission, Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda won from Rukum Purba district. He secured 10,240 votes against his rival Lilamani Gautam of CPN (UML), who got 3,462 votes.

After Oli's ouster, President Ramchandra Paudel dissolved the House of Representatives on September 12 and appointed Sushila Karki as the caretaker PM.

The major issues raised by Gen Z are anti-corruption, good governance, an end to nepotism, generational change in political leadership, etc.