Rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah’s party heads for landslide in Nepal elections

KATHMANDU: Nepal’s centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), led by rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah, is heading for a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections, according to partial official results released Sunday.

Election Commission data showed the RSP securing a dominant lead in the direct parliamentary contests and also leading the proportional representation vote.

The elections were the first since the deadly September 2025 Nepal youth anti-corruption protests that toppled the previous government.

Balendra Shah, 35, also secured a major personal victory by defeating veteran politician and four-time prime minister KP Sharma Oli in his own constituency.

Shah’s rise from mayor of Kathmandu to a potential prime minister marks one of the most dramatic shifts in Nepal’s recent political history.

The youth-led protests in September 2025, largely driven by Generation Z activists, initially began over a short-lived social media ban but quickly expanded into wider demonstrations against corruption and economic hardship.

Nepal’s elections on Thursday were held to form the 275-member House of Representatives of Nepal, with 185 members elected directly and 110 through proportional representation.

By Sunday afternoon, results for 153 direct constituencies had been declared, with RSP winning 117 seats, the Nepali Congress securing 17, and the Marxist party of KP Sharma Oli winning only seven seats.

Former Maoist guerrilla commander and three-time prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal retained his seat, with his party holding seven seats overall.

Trends also indicated that the RSP was leading in eight of the remaining 12 constituencies yet to declare results.

In the proportional representation vote, the RSP was leading with nearly half of the counted ballots, although final results may take several more days.

Meanwhile, Nepali Congress also suffered a setback as its new leader Gagan Thapa lost his seat to an RSP candidate.

Election Commission spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai said vote counting was progressing smoothly and that results for all direct constituencies were expected by the end of the day.

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After his victory, Shah toured the streets of his constituency in a celebratory parade, waving to supporters who chanted his nickname “Balen”.

Meanwhile, the government-appointed commission investigating the deadly September 2025 protests submitted its report to interim prime minister Sushila Karki.

Commission member Bigyan Raj Sharma said the inquiry team questioned more than 200 people and submitted a 900-page report along with over 8,000 pages of supporting documents.

The findings of the report have not yet been made public, and no one has been held accountable so far for the deaths during the protests.

KP Sharma Oli has previously denied ordering security forces to open fire on protesters, instead blaming “infiltrators” for the violence.