Gen Z Supported RSP's Resounding Win In Nepal Elections Is A Gamechanger Arabian Post

(MENAFN- The Arabian Post)

** By Nitya Chakraborty**

The resounding victory of the Gen Z supported Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) in the March 5 general elections in Nepal is a game changer not only in the political history of this tiny Himalayan nation but also in the evolving polity of South Asia. Nepal is now the second country in South Asia which is witnessing the installation of a government backed by the youth movement that ousted the government run by a traditional political party through revolt in the second week of September 2025.

Only in another country of South Asia, in Sri Lanka, more or less the same scenario was witnessed in September 2024, when the leader of the National People’s Power (PPP) won the presidential elections by defeating the traditional political parties of Sri Lanka which ul3d the island nation for decades. The 2023 Sri Lanka elections were held following the ouster of the ruling government in the students and people’s revolt in 2022 against price rise and unemployment.

In another country of South Asia, Bangladesh, the students revolt led to the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government in August 2024 but the national elections on February 12 this year did not lead to any youth led government. Rather the party formed by the protagonists of revolt to overthrow the Hasina government faced a big defeat and the traditional party BNP had aa two third win. So Bangladesh missed the bus while Sri Lanka and Nepal succeeded.

The final results of Nepal elections have not yet been received but the trends indicate that the RSP is set to cross 100 seats out of the total of 165 seats to which direct elections were held. The other parties Nepal Congress led by Gagan Thapa, the CPN(UML) led by former prime minister K P. S Oli and the Nepal Communist Party (Maoist) led by Prachanda are far behind struggling to touch two digits. Indications are that the RSP, on its own will be able to form the new government without depending on any other party. So far in the last two decades of parliamentary democracy, the trend in Nepal was that no political party had majority on its own. The coalition was formed after the elections to run the government. The partners changed a number of times leading to the fall of the ministry and then forming of a new combination to remain in power. This trend is being discontinued from the 2026 elections.

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The RSP is the youngest of the political parties in Nepal which are in the fray in 2026 elections. RSP was founded in 2022 before the elections. The party contested in 131 constituencies and got 10.7 per cent of the votes winning 7 seats in direct elections and 13 seats under proportional representation. The party is ed by Baba Lamchane a media owner. Former Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah joined RSP later and won the elections in 2026 by defeating former PM K P S Oli. He is so popular that he is being tipped to become the next PM of RSP government. Sushila Karki, the interim Prime Minister of Nepal government is close to Shah as also the senior leaders of the Gen Z movement. Balendra Shah acted as a mentor to the Gen Z. In fact at one stage, there was some discussion about Gen Z forming a party of their own, but finally, they rallied behind Shah and RSP.

In Nepal, the movement was started by the Gen Z including the school students in protest against the government order to ban social media platforms. The movement then turned into a total opposition to the ruling K P S Oli government and all the established political parties. There were clashes between security forces and demonstrators but Nepalese army took a cautionary stand. After the situation went out of control, the Nepalese army chief told PM Oli to step down. He and his government resigned. The Army chief in consultations with Gen Z leaders and civil society leaders helped in the formation of an interim government led by the former Chief Justice Sushila Karki.

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There are 275 seats in Nepal Parliament lower house. Out of this, 165 seats are meant for direct elections and the remaining 110 will be filled through proportional representation. In Nepal, all major parties contest in all seats and after their strength is known after the elections, the parties go for alliance after the elections. In the same pattern, 73 year old K P S Oli, the ousted PM is leading Communist Party of Nepal-UML (Unified Marxist Leninist). He was earlier in alliance with the Nepali Congress before the September ouster. Another former PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal known as Prachanda, the former PM heads the Nepal Communist Party. He has been able to rope in other communist factions under him. He has emerged as the main challenger to Oli.

While both Communist Parties have retained the traditional leaders, the Nepali Congress, the country’s oldest political party elected a young Gagan Thapa as its new leader in January this year. The 49 year old popular leader replaces the veteran Sher Bahadur Deuba,79, who was PM five times in varying combination of alliances in the last two decades since the establishment of democracy after 2006.

35 year old Balendra Shah is an engineer and a rapper. He earned immense good will during his tenure as Mayor of Kathmandu. He is known as a fighter against corrupt practices. He has collected around RSP some civil rights activists who may be his advisers if he takes over as PM. Balendra is known for some anti-Indian comments but he is a rational person and is not Xenophobic. He got his masters in engineering from a n Indian institute. He has good grasp of India Nepal relations. It will be seen how the bilateral relations proceeds during the tenure of the new government in Nepal. ** (IPA Service)**

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