Nepal Election: RSP set to form next government, wins 106 seats
Rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah’s Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) is all set to form the next government in Nepal after securing landslide victory in parliamentary elections and decimating the established parties.
Popularly known as Balen, 35-year-old prime ministerial candidate of RSP, defeated four-time prime minister KP Sharma Oli of CPN-UML, by a huge margin of about 50 thousand votes in Jhapa-5 constituency.
Balen will be the first Madhesi prime minister of the Himalayan nation, and also the youngest to occupy the top post in the country’s parliamentary history.
Rastriya Swatantra Party has won in 106 constituencies and is leading in 18 constituencies under the first-past-the-post system. Nepali Congress 15 and is leading in another 3 constituencies, UML has 7 seats and is leading in 3 and NCP has won 6 seats and is leading in 2.
Nepal witnessed about 60 per cent voter turnout during the March 5 elections to the House of Representatives. Of the 275 members of Parliament, 165 are being elected through direct voting, while the remaining 110 through proportionate method.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated the people and government of Nepal for the successful conduct of elections. In a social media post, Mr Modi said, this historic milestone is a proud moment in Nepal’s democratic journey.
He added that as a close friend and neighbour, India remains steadfast in its commitment to working closely with the people of Nepal and its new government to scale new heights of shared peace, progress and prosperity.
