Political parties in Nepal have launched campaigns for the March 5 parliamentary elections, necessitated by last September’s Gen Z protests.
The Nepali Congress, the country’s oldest party, kicked off its campaign rally from Janakpur in Madhesh, a province bordering India, on February 18, as it seeks to reclaim its clout in the region. The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), a relatively new force in Nepal that rose from the 2022 elections, organised its election gathering in Dhangadhi, a city in Nepal’s far-western region.
Various other parties have scheduled their programmes, with the vote just two weeks away.
The coming elections are seen as a litmus test for Nepal’s traditional parties, which have drawn scorn from various quarters for their failures, despite ruling the country for the last three decades. Change is the common refrain among voters, but there is little clarity as to what exactly that means, except for one apparent issue that stands out — there is palpable frustration with the old parties.
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Tanka Lama, from Ramechhap, a district around 150 km east of Kathmandu, says it’s time Nepalis voted for a party other than the Nepali Congress or the Communist Party of Nepal-UML. “I had plans to vote for the RSP, but since Balendra Shah has joined the party as its PM candidate, I have changed my mind,” said Mr. Lama, 25, who drives a taxi in Kathmandu. “I will probably vote for Ujyalo [Nepal Party].”
The RSP was formed just six months before the 2022 elections by former TV host Rabi Lamichhane. Riding on the wave of widespread discontent against Nepal’s traditional parties, it emerged as the fourth-largest force. Mr. Lamichhane is a controversial figure, facing charges of embezzling cooperative funds, while Mr. Shah, who resigned as Kathmandu’s mayor, remains a Marmite figure.
Bet on the bell
Nityanand, an analyst based in Janakpur, says voters do not seem to care much about Mr. Lamichhane or Mr. Shah; the wave is such that everyone says “ghanti,” or the bell, the election symbol of the RSP. “The RSP wave is unprecedented. It’s a different matter whether the street emotions will materialise into actual votes,” he said.
Apart from the RSP, other new forces are also emerging. The Ujyalo Nepal Party came into being only recently, launched by Kulmang Ghising, a former technocrat credited with ending Nepal’s hours-long power outages.
As many as 68 parties are contesting the March 5 polls, with more than 3,000 candidates running for the 275-member House of Representatives. In Nepal, 165 members are elected under the directly elected first-past-the-post system, while 110 are elected under the proportional representation (PR) system. This mixed system makes it extremely difficult for any party to secure a majority.
The question many are asking this time is who will emerge as the biggest party. Though the street wave leans towards the RSP, it is a force with a weaker organisational structure compared to parties like the Nepali Congress or the CPN-UML. The Maoist party, led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who led the 10-year-long insurgency from 1996 to 2006, has now transformed into the Nepali Communist Party. Mr. Dahal, a two-time Prime Minister, has moved to Rukum — a Maoist stronghold during the insurgency — in search of a safe constituency, an indication of how the party’s appeal has waned over the years.
Until 2022, Nepal’s electoral trend showed little to no swing votes, with the Congress and the UML usually standing out. In 2008, the Maoist party, which had just emerged from the war, stunned many as it became the single largest party. But in elections after the 2015 constitution, the Congress and the UML have led. That pattern was disrupted in 2022 with the emergence of the RSP.
When the Gen Z protests happened in September 2025, which left 77 dead, the UML’s K.P. Sharma Oli was the Prime Minister with the backing of the Congress. Dissatisfaction with these parties had already been simmering, as the protests called for an end to a status quo entrenched by the old guard that many believed was promoting corruption and mis-governance. Many also hold the two parties responsible for the protest deaths.
Mr. Oli resigned on September 9. President Ram Chandra Poudel, on September 12, formed an interim government led by Sushila Karki, a former Chief Justice. The interim administration dissolved the House and called elections for March 5.
As many as 19 million people, out of Nepal’s 30 million population, are eligible to vote, with around one million voters — mostly youth — added to the rolls after the protests.
Mr. Lama, the taxi driver, says voting out old parties does not necessarily mean everything will change and improve in the country, but since the Gen Z protests demanded change, the country must see a shift. “I know even if the RSP wins, it cannot form a government alone,” he said. “But the point is we have already seen other parties, let’s give a new party a chance.”
Published – February 21, 2026 11:55 pm IST
