New Nepal Leader and Rapper Critical Of India

The Nepalese elections have thrown up a new Gen Z-inspired party, the Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP), as the winner.

This is in contrast with the results of elections in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, where the winners were the established Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and not a new outfit representing the Gen.Z who had agitated to force elections.

The little-known RSP comprehensively defeated established parties of Nepal like the Nepali Congress and the two communist parties. A notable product of the Nepalese polls is the emergence of Balendra Shah as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the RSP. He is known for his anti-India politics. And is a well known rapper.

The elections also showed that Nepalese women had broken the glass ceiling for women in electoral politics. Thirteen of the 16 women fielded by the RSP won by huge margins.

In Sri Lanka, the winner, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, was founded in the 1960s. In Bangladesh, the winning Bangladesh Nationalist Party was founded in the 1980s. But the party tipped to form the government after the Gen Z revolution in Nepal is the Rashtriya Swatantra Party, a fledgling outfit, founded only in 2022.

While the leader of the JVP, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, is a veteran parliamentarian, and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Tarique Rahman belongs to a party which has been in government several times, the Prime Minister-to-be in Nepal, Balendra Shah, is a greenhorn, a popular rapper identified with the GenZ. The only public office he had held before was the Mayoralty of Kathmandu.

In Bangladesh ,the Gen Z’s National Citizens’ Party (NCP) came a cropper in the elections though it was its street agitation which forced the Sheikh Hasina government to resign and make way for an Interim Government and elections. In Sri Lanka, the JVP had not participated in Gen Z’s Aragalaya agitation, but only supported it. And yet, it was able to ride on the Aragalaya wave and get a two thirds majority,

The other point to be noted is that while in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the post-election governments buried their hatchet with India, the Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) in Nepal is yet to clarify its stand on India given the hostility exhibited earlier. In the past it had slammed Indian “hegemony”. Balendra Shah could be a thorn in India's side.

In 2023, he came into the spotlight when he urged a ban on Indian movies in Nepal after alleging that a Bollywood movie had said that Sita, one of the major goddesses in Hinduism, was “India’s daughter” though she was born in Nepal to King Janaka.

When asked by the Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar to explain, Balendra Shah said, “In Bollywood films, Pakistan is always shown as a place of guns and bombs. Because of this, citizens of Sri Lanka and Nepal are afraid to visit Pakistan, thinking only terrorists live there. This should be opposed.”

The same year, he again courted controversy when he placed a map of “Greater Nepal” in his office. The map showed Nepal's borders extending beyond its present day borders to include territories that were once under Nepali rule, before the 1816 treaty of Sugauli, signed by the then Nepalese king and the British in India.

The move was a counter to the popular Indian concept of an ‘Akanda Bharat” or a" Greater India” mural that had been put up by the Narendra Modi government in the new Indian parliamentary building in New Delhi. The Akhand Bharat shows Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka as part of a putative “Greater India”.

Although Akhand Bharat shows only India’s “cultural reach”, it is taken to mean that India nurtures an ambition to regain the lost lands. On the Akhand Bhgarat issue, Balendra Shah said, “I never said anything for which I should apologise. India called its parliamentary map a cultural one, so we put up a historical map of Greater Nepal. No one should object.”

The Rastriya Swatantra Party’s breakthrough signals a profound shift in Nepali politics, as voters rejected traditional loyalties in favour of transparency, accountability, and a fresh leadership, writes Kosh Raj Koirala in the Nepalese news outlet Republica.

“The dramatic surge of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) is not merely an electoral success—it signals a deeper shift in public sentiment and the beginning of a potentially transformative phase in Nepali politics. Across constituencies—from Kathmandu to the eastern Tarai and the hills it defeated long-entrenched figures from the Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML. For decades, these parties dominated the electoral landscape, and their leaders were often considered “heavyweights” whose victories were taken for granted. But the latest results suggest such assumptions are rapidly losing relevance.

As on March 8, the RSP grabbed more than 100 seats. The Nepali Congress took 15, CPN (MLU), Nepalese Communist Party 5 and others 3 each.

The RSP’s rise reflects growing frustration among voters with the political status quo, driven by dissatisfaction with slow economic progress, governance failures, corruption scandals, and recurring political instability.

The RSP has positioned itself as a credible alternative, promising transparency, technocratic governance, and a break from the patronage-driven political culture that has dominated the country since the restoration of democracy.

For years, many constituencies were viewed as political strongholds of particular leaders or parties. But this has been shattered now. K.P.Oli, known to be undefeatable, was crushed by Balendra Shah in his pocket borough. In several districts, voters have shown a willingness to challenge established dynasties and organisational networks that once seemed unbeatable.

The rise of younger candidates and newcomers reflects a broader impatience with what many perceive as an ageing political class.

The trend also suggests that political charisma and rhetorical skill are no longer enough to guarantee electoral success. Increasingly, voters appear to be demanding concrete results— economic opportunities, better governance and effective service delivery.

The RSP’s success underscores the influence of new political narratives. Unlike traditional parties anchored in ideological identities, the RSP has focused on governance reform, accountability, and anti-corruption. Many of its candidates presented themselves less as conventional politicians and more as professionals, activists, or social entrepreneurs seeking to reform a broken system.

The party’s campaign leveraged social media and digital mobilisation, allowing rapid outreach and engagement with voters. The entry of Balendra Shah (Balen), whose public appeal as a rapper added momentum, reinforced the reformist image cultivated by party founder Rabi Lamichhane, a former journalist known for direct engagement with citizens.

Alongside its landslide victory in the House of Representatives elections, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has achieved a milestone in the success of its women candidates, with 13 of its 16 female nominees emerging victorious. Most winners secured their seats by overwhelming margins, reflecting a strong wave of support for the party’s women leaders.

Ranju Darshana opened the party’s account in Kathmandu-1, securing 15,455 votes to defeat Prabal Thapa Chhetri of the Nepali Congress by a wide margin. In Lalitpur-3, Tosima Karki secured a second consecutive term. Having previously unseated political heavyweights in 2022, she defended her seat this time with 43,096 votes, comfortably defeating Jitendra Kumar Shrestha of the Nepali Congress and Raj Kaji Maharjan of the Nepali Communist Party.

Sobita Gautam, who represented Kathmandu-2 in the 2022 election, successfully shifted her constituency to Chitwan-3. She garnered 59,277 votes, handing a heavy defeat to Nepali Communist Party candidate Renu Dahal, the former mayor of Bharatpur Metropolitan City.

In Morang-6, Rubina Acharya, an MBA graduate from Kathmandu University, secured a landslide victory with 55,513 votes. Her closest rival, Congress leader Shekhar Koirala, managed only 12,850 votes, while Binod Dhakal of the CPN-UML received 8,317.

Further south in Morang-5, Asha Jha, a public health graduate and former health volunteer, won by a margin of over 20,000 votes, polling 30,434 against Congress candidate Phul Kumar Lalwani’s 9,415.

In Jhapa, the RSP recorded two victories. Nisha Dangi (Jhapa-1) secured 45,680 votes, defeating Congress candidate Keshav Raj Pandey. Dangi previously held the record as the youngest lawmaker in the 2022 Parliament.

Meanwhile, Indira Rana Magar (Jhapa-2), the former deputy speaker, secured a massive 60,110 votes, far ahead of former speaker and UML candidate Devraj Ghimire, who received 11,338 votes. In Sarlahi-1, Nitima Bhandari Karki claimed victory with 44,181 votes, leaving Congress candidate Shambhu Lal Shrestha far behind with 7,871 votes.

Komal Gyawali, a successful agricultural entrepreneur, was elected from Kailali-1 with 17,862 votes. Her nearest rival, Janakraj Chaudhary from Congress, got 12,870 votes. Social worker Bina Gurung scored 37,750 votes and defeated Congress candidate Manoj Gurung by a margin of 24,970 votes in Kaski-3.

Social media activist Ashika Tamang entered Parliament with 39,128 votes, defeating veteran leaders Bhumi Prasad Tripathi of the UML and Rajendra Prasad Pandey of the Nepali Communist Party in Dhading-1. Thirty-six-year-old Pushpa Kumari Chaudhary won decisively with 38,195 votes from Saptari-1. Her nearest rival, Sumit Kumar of the Swabhiman Party, received 7,847 votes. In Mahottari-4, Gauri Kumari secured 30,132 votes, comfortably defeating Surendra Kumar Yadav of the Janata Samajbadi Party, Nepal.