GUWAHATI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the people of Nepal and also the interim government in Kathmandu for the successful completion of 2026 general elections on March 5 saying, “It is heartening to see my Nepali sisters and brothers exercise their democratic rights so vibrantly.”
Commenting on his verified social media account, PM Modi also added, “As a close friend and neighbour, India remains steadfast in its commitment to working closely with the people of Nepal and their new government to scale new heights of shared peace, progress and prosperity.”
Later, he had telephone conversations with both Rabi Lamichhane, chairman of the winning party Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and Balendra Shah, party leader and prime ministerial candidate, where Modi congratulated them on their electoral victories. Modi also reaffirmed New Delhi’s commitment to work with the new Kathmandu government for mutual prosperity, progress and well-being of both the countries.
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Meanwhile, the RSP has recorded a resounding victory in the first election after the violent youth uprising in September 2025 that shook the Himalayan nation of 30 million people by winning 125 seats out of 165 constituencies where polling was conducted to fill up the 275-member House of Representatives. Balendra, the young engineer-turned rapper-turned-politician even defeated his nearest rival KP Sharma Oli, the veteran Marxist in his home turf (Jhapa-5 constituency of eastern Nepal).
The former Kathmandu mayor defeated Oli by a margin of around 50,000 votes in the electoral battles and set to become the next Prime Minister of the Hindu majority republic. Mentionable is that the four-time premier, who leads the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) was ousted last year during the deadly anti-corruption uprising.
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The CPN (UML) got restricted to nine seats only, whereas the country’s oldest party Nepali Congress emerged a distant second with 18 constituencies. According to the Nepal Election Commission, Nepali Communist Party succeeded in seven seats followed by Shram Sanskriti Party (3) and pro-monarchist Rastriya Prajatantra Party (1). Lamichhane, the founder of the RSP, and Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda, who led the anti-monarchy violent movement (1996 to 2006) and fought the electoral battle with an NCP candidate won in their respective constituencies.
However, NC president Gagan Thapa lost the battle. The other 110 members in the national parliament will be elected by proportional voting system, where the RSP received altogether 48,11,673 votes, followed by NC (16,18,838), CPN-UML (13,48,368), NCP (7,32,992), SSP (3,41,032), RPP (3,15,438), Nepal Janata Samajwadi Party (1,64,816), National Change Party (1,60,578), Janamat Party (73,411), etc.
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More than 60 % of total 19 million Nepali voters exercised their franchise in the election, where 10 women candidates (nine nominated by RSP and one by NC) emerged victorious. The single phase election, conducted under the mentorship of the interim government led by retired judge Sushila Karki, was largely peaceful. The former chief justice of Nepal was sworn in on 12 September 2025 (she became the first woman in the republic’s highest executive office) following which Karki announced the next election within six months.
As the RSP sets out to form a single-party government in a decade, Balendra will be the youngest head of Nepal government and first one from Madhesh province. Located in the southeastern region, bordering India’s Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states, the province is believed by Sanatani Hindus to be the birthplace of Maa Sita (of great epic Ramayana) when it was known as Janakpur.
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Balendra, before the battle of ballots to reach the Singha Durbar, attracted global media attention by withdrawing the China-backed Damak project in Jhapa district from the election manifesto. Strategically located near to Siliguri corridor (Chicken’s neck) in India, the project (lately renamed as Nepal-China Friendship Industrial Park) is linked to Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, which was considered as an annoying development for arch rival New Delhi.
Otherwise, the energetic Maithili speaker assured to promote ‘Nepal First’ theory in dealing with even foreign policies, create 1.2 million jobs to address the growing unemployment problem and frustration among Nepali youths, establish social safety measures including healthcare insurance facilities and other welfare initiatives to the entire poverty-stricken population of the south Asian nation.