Nepal: Balen Shah pulls off a major upset, defeats four-time Prime Minister K.P. Oli

Kathmandu. In Nepal’s Jhapa-5 Constituency, RSP leader and rapper-turned-politician Balen Shah defeated four-time Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli by a landslide margin of nearly 50,000 votes, the Election Commission announced here. The Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) leader and former mayor of Kathmandu, popularly known simply as Balen, is his party’s prime ministerial candidate.

The Election Commission (EC) reported that 35-year-old Balen received 68,348 votes, while 74-year-old Oli received 18,734 votes. The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN-UML) had presented Oli as the party’s prime ministerial candidate. Thursday marked the first general election since last year’s violent “Gen Z” protests, demanding a generational shift in politics and corruption-free governance in the Himalayan nation.

Balen Shah’s Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) is poised to win a landslide victory in Nepal. Shah challenged Oli in the Jhapa-5 seat and proved his decision correct. A total of 106,372 votes were cast. Despite a strong wave in favor of the RSP across the country, former Prime Minister Dahal managed to win the Rukum East-1 seat with 10,240 votes.

According to the latest figures, the RSP has won over 60 seats. Meanwhile, the Nepali Congress has won only nine. Oli’s party, the Nepal Communist Party (UML), won three seats, while the Nepal Communist Party won two. These figures make Shah’s election as Prime Minister almost certain.

The top leadership of the party, which held power in Nepal before the Generation-Z movement, suffered a crushing defeat in the current general elections. Party Vice Presidents Bishnu Poudel and Gokarna Bista, General Secretary Shankar Pokharel, Secretary Mahesh Basnet, Bhanubhakta Dhakal, and Rajan Bhattarai lost. Voting for the 275 seats in Nepal’s Parliament (Sabha of Representatives) concluded on March 5th. Elections were held for 165 of these seats through direct voting, and the remaining 110 through the proportional representation system. According to the Election Commission, voter turnout was approximately 60 percent.

It is noteworthy that the Oli government fell in September 2025 following widespread anti-corruption student protests, and Parliament was dissolved. These elections were conducted under the supervision of the interim government formed after this. Political analysts believe that Nepal’s young voters have rejected traditional leadership and chosen a new and modern political approach. If Shah takes power, it could usher in a new era not only for Nepal’s internal politics but also for its bilateral relations with India.