Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) election candidate Balendra Shah waits to collect a certificate for his victory in parliamentary elections at the counting centre in Damak in Nepal's Jhapa district on March 7, 2026. (Photo by Prakash MATHEMA / AFP)Nepal had two per cent of votes left to count on Wednesday after parliamentary elections, with rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah’s centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) having secured a majority. The March 5 parliamentary vote was the first since youth-led, deadly anti-corruption protests toppled the government in September. Shah himself defeated veteran four-time prime minister KP Sharma Oli — whose Marxist-led government was ousted in the violence last year — in his own seat. In direct elections, RSP won three-quarters of seats, 125 of 165, according to official results.

Source: Punch March 11, 2026 17:28 UTC