RSP Sweeps 125 Constituencies in Historic Electoral Upset

With the vote count under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system completed, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has emerged as a dominant force in Nepali politics, securing victory in 125 constituencies in the March 5 House of Representatives election.

According to the Election Commission (EC), the Nepali Congress (NC) finished a distant second with 18 seats. The CPN (UML), which led the government during the Gen G protest, secured only nine seats, reflecting what analysts describe as a strong voter backlash against the party that was in power during the nationwide demonstrations.

The sweeping victory of the RSP marks one of the biggest upsets in Nepal’s political history, dramatically reshaping the country’s political landscape. The election was announced in the backdrop of the Gen Z protest movement, led largely by young voters demanding accountability, governance reforms and new leadership. Political observers say the movement created momentum for new faces and anti-establishment candidates.

RSP’s prime ministerial candidate and former mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Balen Shah also drew massive public attention during the election. His upset victory against former prime minister KP Sharma Oli became one of the closely watched contests of the election, symbolizing the broader shift in voter sentiment toward new leadership.

Many of the newly elected lawmakers, most of them first-time candidates, are relatively young leaders whose rise reflects the aspirations of the country’s younger generation, particularly Gen Z voters who played a visible role during the protest and the election campaign in the digital era.

The Election Commission confirmed that seven candidates from the Nepali Communist Party have also won seats in the House of Representatives. The party is likely to gain another seat after the Election Commission directed officials in Dhanusha-1 to declare its candidate Matrika Prasad Yadav as the winner after the candidacy of RSP’s Kishori Sah was annulled for being blacklisted by the Credit Information Bureau. The case is currently sub judice at the Supreme Court.

According to the Election Commission, Yadav secured 10,428 votes, while his nearest rival Rampaltan Sah of the Nepali Congress obtained 9,485 votes.

The Shram Sanskriti Party has won three constituencies, while the Rastriya Prajatantra Party and an independent candidate secured one seat each.

A total of 65 political parties contested the election under the FPTP system for 165 seats in the House of Representatives, while the remaining 110 seats will be filled through the proportional representation (PR) system.

Under the FPTP system, 3,406 candidates—3,017 men, 388 women and one from the other gender category—contested the election.

Only 14 women have been directly elected to the federal parliament. While the number of women elected directly this time is higher than in the parliamentary elections of 2022 and 2017, it constitutes just 8.48 percent of the total FPTP seats. In the 2022 elections, nine women were directly elected, while only six won their seats directly in 2017.

The Election Commission said the counting of votes under the proportional representation (PR) system is currently underway and is likely to conclude soon.