Nepal’s RSP leads early results as Balendra Shah defeats KP Sharma Oli

Partial official results put Nepal's centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party, led by rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah, ahead in the country's general election, the Election Commission said. Of 157 declared direct seats, the RSP had taken 121, well clear of the Nepali Congress on 17 and Oli's Marxist-led party on seven, and the party was also leading half of the eight outstanding constituencies as well as the proportional representation count, though officials cautioned that final numbers could take several more days. Shah, a former Kathmandu mayor contesting his first parliamentary term, unseated four-time prime minister KP Sharma Oli in Oli's own seat. The vote was the first since youth-led anti-corruption protests forced Oli's government from power in September 2025. A government-appointed commission investigating that unrest handed in its findings the same day, after questioning more than 200 people, with no one yet held accountable, interim leader Sushila Karki said acting on the report would fall to whichever government takes office next.