Nepal election results are out, and after the March 5 elections, the nascent Rastriya Swatantra Party has steamrolled to a victory. Rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah is set to become the next Prime Minister of Nepal. The choice of the Gen-Z, Balen as he is known, comprehensively defeated former Prime Minister KP Oli from the Jhapa-5 constituency.
Notably, early General elections had to be called after youth protests in September 2025 led to the resignation of KP Oli as Prime Minister and removal of his government. Voters cast their votes in 2 ballots, one to one to elect 165 members from single-member constituencies , and other for 110 members via party-list proportional representation.
RSP won 124 seats out of 165 seats, and got around 50% votes in proportional representation. Meanwhile, traditional heavyweights like Nepali Congress, Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), and Nepali Communist Party were absolutely blown away in these elections. The communists were the worst sufferer of this wave of Gen-Z support for RSP.
The seismic electoral shock has led to discussions that is the time up for traditional heavyweights of Nepal politics, in particular for the Communists? For a long time, communist parties were the most powerful force in Nepal, shaping governments and influencing the direction of the state after the monarchy was abolished in 2008. But after the heavy loss in this election, a question has arisen – Is this the beginning of the end for communist politics in Nepal, or merely a temporary political blip?
The declining support for communists and the loss of faith in Communist government were the reasons that led to the youth uprising against KP Oli-led government. The youth was fed up with corruption, lack of jobs, and the general misgovernance. The left has always been strong with stirring slogans but the youth saw that these slogans aren’t doing much for the betterment of their lives, they were still forced to migrate to other countries due to lack of economic opportunities in Nepal.
Communist parties have a strong network in the country across rural Nepal, trade unions, and student bodies, but without the support of these youngsters, they got totally decimated in the elections.
This was the first election in which the Gen-Z formed a major chunk of eligible voters, and boy have they made their voice heard. These voters are going to be around for a long time so the question is- Will this disenchantment against Communist politics sustain over a period of time or will the left parties stage a comeback?
It is obviously too soon to write off Left parties completely as they have a vast network at grassroots level in Nepal. However, the scale of their defeat would have sent warning bells ringing. We have seen it in India, the left still has a vast grassroots level network, but electorally they have become irrelevant everywhere except Kerala. Even in Bengal where they ruled for decades at a stretch, they are no longer a force.
It is very difficult to turn things around when an entire upcoming generation turns its back on you. Winning back the support of Gen-Z is going to be a Herculean task for them.
Of course much will depend on how the new government under PM Balendra Shah will perform. The expectations from him are sky high and he will be expected to work miracles right from the start of his tenure. And if he doesn’t live up to the expectations, will the Gen-Z quickly lose patience with him? Or will they be patient and give the 35-year-old time to slowly turn the nation’s fortunes around?
Turning around the economy will be the biggest challenge for the new government, as major disenchantment with the left parties was poor state of economy and the rampant corruption in governance.
Either way, it will be interesting to see over the next few years if Nepal politics gets some stability or will the rotating door police will continue in the PM office.
