RSP's Balendra Shah defeats four-time PM Oli by huge margin in Nepal polls

Kathmandu, Mar 7 (PTI) RSP leader and rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah 'Balen' on Saturday defeated four-time prime minister K P Sharma Oli by a huge margin of about 50,000 votes in Jhapa-5 constituency, the traditional stronghold of the CPN-UML.

The Rashtriya Swatantrata Party (RSP) leader and former Kathmandu Mayor, popularly known only as Balen, is his party's prime ministerial candidate while Oli too was projected as the PM face of his party, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist).

Balen, 35, secured 68,348 votes against 74-year-old Oli's 18,734 in the constituency where the former prime minister had remained undefeated for years, the Election Commission (EC) said.

As of 6:30 pm, the RSP had won 62 seats from among the 78 for which results have been declared and leading in 60 seats.

Balen had joined the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), led by Ravi Lamichhane, in January and was soon declared as the party's prime ministerial candidate.

The RSP is almost certain to attain a clear majority in the Parliamentary elections as it is heading towards close to two-thirds majority, evident from the leading positions of the party and the vote it secured under the proportionate voting system.

Nepal voted on Thursday in the first general elections since the violent Gen Z protests last year that had demanded a generational change in politics and a corruption-free regime in the Himalayan nation.

Balen, who is from Kathmandu, chose Jhapa 5 to challenge Oli, the former prime minister and chair of CPN-UML.

The RSP, in fact, created a wave not only in Kathmandu Valley, but its influence extended to Koshi Province in the east to Sudur Paschim in the western Nepal as well as Madhes Province and central Nepal.

Across the country, the RSP dismantled many strongholds, pockets and core areas of Nepal's two big parties, the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML.

Some 11 office bearers of the CPN-UML suffered humiliating defeats at the hands of RSP candidates while more than half a dozen NC strongmen also lost the election, the EC data showed.

Sunil Babu Pant, former MP and a political analyst, said, “The victory of Rastriya Swatantra Party in the March 5 elections and the expectation that Balen Shah could emerge as Nepal's next Prime Minister reflects the people's deep rooted frustration with the old political order and their hope for a new direction.” “As Balen assumes the country's leadership, his first responsibility must be to demonstrate that corruption will not be tolerated under any circumstances,” he said.

Balen will also face a complex geopolitical challenge, Pant said, adding, “He must prove that he is not a puppet of any external power, western or otherwise. Nepal's leadership must carefully balance relations with all global actors and pursue an independent foreign policy that prioritises the national interest.” PTI SBP NPK NPK