Nepal Election: Big upset in Nepal elections, rapper turned politician Balen Shah emerged as kingmaker.

Kathmandu: Rapper-turned-politician Balen Shah’s Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) is headed for a landslide victory in Nepal on Saturday in the first general elections held since the violent ‘Gen Z’ protests in September. The RSP is likely to become the largest party in this election, breaking the dominance of established political parties in the politically unstable nation.

According to the latest data from the Election Commission of Nepal, RSP has won 18 seats and the party is ahead in 99 other seats. India is keeping a close eye on this election. He is hoping for a stable government in the politically unstable Himalayan country so that the developmental partnership between the two sides can be taken forward.

India’s eyes

“We look forward to working with the new government of Nepal to further advance the strong multidimensional relations between our two countries and peoples for mutual benefit,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in Delhi on Thursday.

He said India has “consistently supported peace, progress and stability in Nepal and in line with its commitment, has provided logistical supplies as requested by the Government of Nepal for these elections”. Nepali Congress has won four seats and is leading on 11 other seats while Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN-UML) has won one seat and is leading on 11 seats. Nepali Communist Party has won two seats and is leading on 10 seats. The Shram Sanskriti Party is now ahead on only three seats, whereas earlier it was ahead on six seats.

Out of total 275 members of the Parliament, 165 members will be elected through direct voting system, while the remaining 110 members will be elected through proportional method. In this general election held in Nepal, about 1.89 crore voters were eligible to elect 275 members of the House of Representatives, out of which about 60 percent voters voted on Thursday. Around 3,400 candidates are contesting for 165 seats under direct voting and 3,135 candidates are contesting for 110 seats through proportional voting. After the violent protests by ‘Gen Z’ that continued for two days on September 8 and 9 last year, Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli had to step down from power.

What was the trigger?

Oli was leading a coalition government supported by the Nepali Congress, which had about a two-thirds majority. The ‘Gen Z’ generation refers to people born between 1997 and 2012. After Oli stepped down from power, President Ramchandra Paudel dissolved the House of Representatives on September 12 and appointed Sushila Karki as the acting Prime Minister. The major issues raised by ‘Gen Z’ are anti-corruption campaign, good governance, end of nepotism, generational change in political leadership etc. The 35-year-old engineer, known as ‘Balen’, is likely to become Nepal’s next prime minister, reflecting public rejection of established parties. 14 governments have been formed in Nepal in the last 18 years.