Nepal’s centrist RSP party of rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah had secured a majority in direct parliamentary elections, partial official results showed Sunday, and was headed for a landslide, according to official trends.
The 35-year-old’s Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was also leading in proportional representation, according to the declared results and Election Commission trends.
The vote was the first since deadly youth anti-corruption protests in September 2025 toppled the government.
Shah himself had on Saturday defeated veteran four-time prime minister KP Sharma Oli – whose Marxist-led government was ousted in violence last year – in his own seat.
His victory over the 74-year-old Oli and his rise from mayor of the capital to potential prime minister marks one of the most dramatic achievements in recent Nepali politics.
The youth-led demonstrations in September 2025, under a loose Gen Z banner, began with a brief ban on social media, but quickly segued into broader complaints about corruption and a struggling economy.
The election on Thursday elected a new 275-member House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament, with 185 seats elected directly and 110 by proportional representation.
Poll monitors, The Asian Network for Free Elections, said on Sunday that the vote had been “peaceful and orderly and reflected continued public engagement in democratic processes despite recent political instability”.
‘Necessary Action’
By Sunday afternoon, 153 of the direct elections had been declared: the RSP dominant with 117, the Nepali Congress 17 and the Marxists from now defeating Oli trailing by seven.
Former Maoist guerrilla commander Pushpa Kamal Dahal, a three-time prime minister, won his seat and his party had seven in total.
Trends showed that Shah’s RSP was also leading in eight of the remaining 12 constituencies in the direct elections.
In the proportional representation vote, the RSP led with almost half of the votes counted – but the final results could take several more days.
The Nepali Congress, the largest party in the previous coalition government, also saw its new leader, Gagan Thapa, defeated by the RSP.
“Counting is progressing smoothly in all remaining constituencies,” Election Commission spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai said. AFP.
“Results of all direct votes are expected by the end of today, PR (proportional representation) votes will take a few more days.”
First-time parliamentary lawmaker Shah toured the streets of his new constituency on Saturday evening, wearing his signature dark sunglasses and waving from the sunroof of a car in a victory parade through jubilant crowds chanting “Balen” – as he is better known.
Shah, who did not make a speech, won more than three times more votes than Oli, who congratulated the winner and wished him “a smooth and successful five-year tenure”.
Nepal’s government-formed commission of inquiry to look into the deadly violence in September 2025 also submitted its report on Sunday.
No one has yet been held responsible for the deaths.
Its results are yet to be announced, but it was handed over to Sushila Karki, the caretaker prime minister,
Commission member Bigyan Raj Sharma told reporters that the team had questioned more than 200 people and had submitted a 900-page report – with more than 8,000 additional pages.
“We tried to do fact-finding on September 8 and 9,” he said.
“Based on what we saw, understood and verified through the evidence, we have given our opinions and recommendations. This is now government property and the government will take the necessary steps.”
Oli has denied ordering security forces to open fire on protesters and has said so AFP that he blames “infiltrators” for the violence.
