Kathmandu, March 8
The results of 28 constituencies are yet to be announced. Among them, candidates of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) are leading in 18 constituencies.
According to the results announced so far, the RSP has already secured 106 seats. Meanwhile, the Nepali Congress has won 15 seats, the CPN-UML 7 seats, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) 6 seats, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party 1 seat, the Janamat Party 1 seat, and one independent candidate has also been elected.
Vote counting from Thursday’s election is still underway. In constituencies where direct voting counts have been completed, the counting of proportional representation votes has begun.
The RSP is also leading in the proportional representation vote count. In the dissolved House of Representatives, the RSP was the fourth-largest party. This time, it has emerged with a clear single-party majority. The parties that previously ranked first, second, and third, Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, and the Maoist Centre, have seen significant declines.
The RSP had entered the election, presenting Balen Shah (Balen) as its future prime ministerial candidate. Balen is the outgoing mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City. He had won the mayoral election as an independent candidate in 2022 and resigned from the post to contest the parliamentary election.
With the majority secured, the RSP is now positioned to form a single-party government under Balen’s leadership. Balen himself was a candidate for the House of Representatives from Jhapa-5. The constituency had previously been represented by KP Sharma Oli, chairman of CPN-UML.
Balen defeated Oli in Jhapa-5, a constituency long considered Oli’s stronghold since 1991. Balen was elected with 68,348 votes, defeating former prime minister Oli, who received 18,734 votes. The margin of victory stood at 49,614 votes.
RSP Secretariat member Sobita Gautam said that a new government will now be formed under Balen’s leadership. Gautam herself won the election from Chitwan-3.
Speaking to journalists after her victory, Gautam said that since the party had presented Balen as its prime ministerial candidate even before the election, he will now become prime minister.
She expressed commitment to transforming the public’s trust in the RSP into tangible results. “The people have voted for the RSP as their last hope,” leader Gautam said. “We will move forward with seriousness to honour that trust.”
