Nepal Election Results 2026 Live: Balen Shah’s RSP leads on 98 seats, rivals trail far behind

Balendra Shah of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) led with 55,934 votes in Jhapa-5, far ahead of former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli of the CPN-UML, who trailed with 15,409 votes, and Samir Tamang of the Shram Sanskriti Party, who garnered 8,519 votes.

Nepal’s rapper-turned-politician maintained a commanding lead Saturday in the closely watched race in Jhapa’s southeastern district, according to Election Commission data. Shah’s centrist RSP seemed set for a decisive victory in the parliamentary elections, even as counting continued.

The election on Thursday came six months after youth-led protests toppled the government, leaving at least 77 people dead. The September 2025 demonstrations, organized under a loose Gen Z banner, began over a brief social media ban but quickly grew into a wider movement against corruption and economic hardship.

Early trends from the Election Commission indicate that 35-year-old Shah’s RSP is on track to win a majority in the 275-member House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament.