KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Election results released Thursday by Nepal’s electoral commission reveal that a newly-formed political movement headed by a former rapper has achieved a decisive victory in the nation’s parliamentary elections.
The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), under the leadership of rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah, claimed victory in the nation’s inaugural election following last year’s youth-driven uprising.
Shah’s RSP secured 125 direct election victories and an additional 57 seats through proportional representation voting, totaling 182 seats in the 275-seat House of Representatives, parliament’s influential lower house. The established Nepali Congress party finished as runner-up with just 38 seats.
Nepal’s electoral system allows voters to directly choose 165 House of Representatives members, while the remaining 110 positions are distributed via proportional representation, where parties receive seats corresponding to their vote percentage.
Electoral officials will request party lists for proportional representation seats before reporting to the president, who will convene the new parliament to select a prime minister requiring majority support. The RSP now controls nearly two-thirds of all seats.
Establishing a new government will likely require several days to complete the process.
Shah, serving as the RSP’s candidate for prime minister, previously captured Kathmandu’s mayoral position in 2022. He became a prominent leader during the 2025 uprising that removed former Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli from power.
Founded in 2022, the RSP attracted massive electoral support, mounting a serious threat to Nepal’s two traditionally powerful parties — the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist).
Last year’s demonstrations against government corruption and ineffective leadership began with opposition to social media restrictions before expanding into widespread anti-government protests. The violence resulted in dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries as demonstrators targeted government facilities and police responded with gunfire.
