Nepal Election Result 2026 Highlights: Rapper-Turned Politician Balendra Shah's RSP Crushes K P Sharma Oli

The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) of rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah swept Nepal's general election, crushing long-established forces. Early results from the Election Commission showed the new party close to single-party dominance in the House of Representatives, triggering a collapse in support for the Nepali Congress and communist parties.

Rapper-Turned Politician Balendra Shah's RSP Sweeps Nepal Election 2026

Formed in 2022 by Ravi Lamichhane, the party secured 117 of the 165 directly elected seats and was leading in eight more, according to the Election Commission. Results were declared for 152 constituencies, leaving only 13 still to be confirmed, yet the pattern of a decisive Rastriya Swatantra Party victory was already clear.

Who is Balendra Shah?

Balendra Shah, popularly known as Balen, emerged as the frontrunner for the prime minister's post after delivering a stunning defeat to four-time former prime minister K. P. Sharma Oli in the Jhapa-5 constituency.

The 35-year-old leader secured 68,348 votes, while 74-year-old Oli received 18,734, leaving a margin of nearly 50,000 votes. The large gap highlighted widespread public frustration with traditional political leadership.

If confirmed as prime minister, Balen would become Nepal's youngest prime minister and also the first Madhesi leader to hold the office in the country's parliamentary history.

RSP Dominates Kathmandu Valley

Election Commission data also revealed that the Rastriya Swatantra Party secured all 15 constituencies across three districts in the Kathmandu Valley.

The clean sweep in the capital region-often viewed as a strong indicator of national political sentiment-signalled a clear rejection of legacy parties and a strong shift toward new leadership and younger political faces.

The Nepali Congress managed to secure only 17 directly elected seats, placing it far behind the emerging political force.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) led by K. P. Sharma Oli won seven constituencies and was leading in three more.

The Nepal Communist Party also secured seven seats, while the Shram Sanskriti Party won two seats and was leading in one. The Rastriya Prajatantra Party captured one seat, and one independent candidate also entered Parliament.

Major Leaders Suffer Electoral Defeats

The RSP surge also resulted in several high-profile defeats for prominent leaders from established political parties.

Nepali Congress president Gagan Thapa, widely projected as his party's prime ministerial candidate, lost in Dhanusha-4 to RSP candidate Amaresh Singh. Singh secured 33,688 votes, while Thapa received 22,831 votes, according to official data.

Other senior Nepali Congress leaders, including general secretary Guru Raj Ghimire, Shekhar Koirala, and Bimalendra Nidhi, also failed to retain their seats.

The CPN-UML leadership suffered similar setbacks, with ten office bearers losing their constituencies, including general secretary Shankar Pokharel.

Among those defeated were vice presidents Bishnu Paudel, Prithvi Subba Gurung, and Gokarna Bista, along with deputy general secretary Raghubir Mahaseth and several party secretaries such as Sherdhan Rai, Mahesh Basnet, Rajan Bhattarai, and Bhanubhakta Dhakal.

Nepal Election Results and Vote Share of Rastriya Swatantra Party

The broader composition of the House of Representatives reflected the Rastriya Swatantra Party's dominance.

Of the 275 members of Parliament, 165 were chosen through direct voting, while 110 were elected under the proportional representation system.

Around 3,400 candidates contested the 165 first-past-the-post seats, and 3,135 others ran for the 110 proportional seats.

The proportional count further underlined the shift towards the new political force.

As of Sunday, the Rastriya Swatantra Party led the proportional tally with 18,15,857 votes.

The Nepali Congress followed with 6,18,630 votes, while CPN-UML received 5,19,353 votes.

The Nepali Communist Party obtained 2,45,804 votes, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) 1,31,277, and the Shram Sanskriti Party 78,072, according to Election Commission data.

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