Nepal elections: All you need to know about 1st polls since Gen Z protests

Nepal heads to the polls for the first time since Gen Z-led protests that toppled former PM K P Sharma Oli's government. RSP's Balendra Shah has emerged as a frontrunner for the country's top post

Voting began in Nepal on Thursday in the country’s first general election since last year’s Gen Z-led uprising that led to the resignation of former Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and plunged the country into political turmoil.

 

Polling opened at 7 am across all 165 constituencies and will close at 5 pm. According to the Election Commission, more than 18.9 million eligible voters are casting ballots to elect the 275-member House of Representatives.

 

Of these, 165 lawmakers will be chosen through direct first-past-the-post voting with 3,406 candidates in the fray. Another 3,135 candidates are contending for the remaining 110 seats that will be filled through proportional representation. A total of 65 political parties are contesting the direct seats, and 63 are participating in proportional voting, according to a report by PTI.

 

Election Commission spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai said that the polling began peacefully across the country. Caretaker PM Sushila Karki, who came out of retirement to lead the country, urged citizens to participate in the polls and called for peaceful elections, as quoted by news agency AFP.

 

A look back

The vote follows deadly protests in September 2025, triggered by a ban on social media that escalated into nationwide demonstrations against unemployment, corruption and inequality. Security forces opened fire on protesters, killing at least 70 people and eventually leading to Oli's resignation from the country's top post.

 

President Ramchandra Paudel dissolved the House of Representatives on September 12 and appointed Karki as caretaker PM.

 

The protests, driven largely by young voters, raised demands for anti-corruption measures, good governance, an end to nepotism and generational change in leadership.

Who are the contenders?

One of the frontrunners in the election is 35-year-old rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah, who is campaigning on economic reform and anti-corruption measures. Shah, who has previously served as the mayor of Kathmandu, is the PM candidate of the three-year old Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP). RSP Co-General Secretary Bipin Acharya said that the party's campaign remains primarily centred around the economy and changes to the bureaucratic system, reported Bloomberg.

 

Shah is contesting from Jhapa-5, where he faces Oli, who has won the seat six times in the past. Oli’s party, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) or CPN-UML, has emerged as a hardline force in the polls. Other contenders include the reformed Nepali Congress, led by Gagan Thapa, which has been voicing issues raised by Gen Z, and the Nepal Communist Party led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’. While it claims to have addressed concerns of Gen Z, the party has not handed over its leadership to the younger generation, reported PTI.

 

More than 10,900 polling booths and over 23,000 polling centres have been set up nationwide to carry out the polls. Authorities have deployed 341,111 security personnel, including the Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force, to ensure a free and fair vote. Nepal has declared a three-day public holiday for the elections.