Nepal votes on 5 March: Nearly 3,500 candidates, including 391 women, filed nominations on Tuesday for the 165 seats up for grabs in Nepal’s upcoming general elections under the direct voting system.
The Himalayan nation is set to witness the House of Representatives (HoR) election on 5 March. Political parties in Nepal officially began campaigning for the general elections last week.
Of the total of 275 HoR seats, 40 per cent, or 110 members, are elected through a proportional voting system. Elections are conducted for 165 seats under the First Past the Post (FPTP) or direct voting system.
Why were the elections necessitated?
The general elections were necessitated after KP Sharma Oli resigned as prime minister on 9 September last year, following violent protests by the youth-led Gen Z group against his government over corruption and a ban on social media.
On 4 September 2025, the government of KP Sharma Oli abruptly banned 26 social media platforms (including Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok), citing regulatory non-compliance. The youth viewed this as a blatant attempt to silence dissent and expose government corruption, which had been trending online under hashtags like #NepoBaby.
On September 8 and 9, 2025, tens of thousands of young protesters—many in school and college uniforms—marched on the Federal Parliament. While the movement began peacefully, it turned violent after the Prime Minister dismissed it as a “staged drama” and police response led to dozens of deaths. Protesters eventually torched several government buildings and the private residences of top political leaders.
KP Sharma Oli resigned as prime minister. In the aftermath, former chief justice Sushila Karki, 73, was appointed interim prime minister to lead the Himalayan republic of 30 million people to elections. Her name was first proposed by thousands of young activists via the online platform Discord.
Karki will step down after the vote for the 275-seat House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, with 165 members elected directly and 110 through party lists.
The elections are seen as a “credibility test” for Nepal, determining if the country can move past its legacy of corruption and embrace a new generation of leadership.
18.9 lakh voters, 3,428 candidates
There are a total of 18,903,689 eligible voters for the election, including 915,119 newly registered ones, compared to the last parliamentary election in 2022.
The Lower House of Parliament has 275 lawmakers, of which 165 are elected through the first past the post (FPTP) system or direct voting while 110 are elected through proportional voting.
A total of 3,428 candidates, comprising 3,037 men and 391 women, representing various political parties and independents, registered for the elections, according to the commission.
The commission is expected to publish the final list of candidates today after verifying the nomination papers and addressing any complaints, Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, Election Commission spokesperson, said last month.
Key players in Nepal Elections
For decades, Nepal’s political landscape has been dominated by veteran leaders — many of them former Maoist insurgents — who have taken turns in power since the end of the 10-year civil war in 2006.
KP Sharma Oli, 73, was ousted as prime minister by the uprising but retained enough support to be reelected leader of the Communist Party of Nepal-UML (Unified Marxist Leninist).
Another former prime minister, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, 71, heads the Nepal Communist Party, which has roped in several other communist factions since the protests.
Nepali Congress, the country’s oldest party and a member of the former coalition government under Oli, elected 49-year-old Gagan Thapa as its new leader in January — sidelining its veteran chief, five-time prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, 79.
Gyanendra, 78, the king until he was deposed in 2008 — ending 240 years of monarchy — still resides in Kathmandu and retains pockets of support from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), which benefits from nostalgia and public frustration at mainstream politics.
Challenging the old guard
Television host Rabi Lamichhane, 50, leads the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), which stunned observers in 2022 by becoming parliament’s fourth-largest force.
A former deputy prime minister and home minister, Lamichhane has formed an alliance with former Kathmandu mayor Balendra “Balen” Shah, 35, a rapper and civil engineer with a considerable online following.
Shah is the alliance’s candidate for prime minister and is mounting a direct challenge against Oli in his constituency.
Another high-profile contender is Kulman Ghising, the former interim energy minister credited with tackling chronic power outages during his tenure at the Nepal Electricity Authority.
Why do Nepal Elections matter for India?
The upcoming elections in Nepal are arguably the most consequential for India-Nepal relations in decades. Because of the shared 1,751-km open border and deep cultural ties, any tremor in Kathmandu is felt in New Delhi.
The “Gen Z Uprising” in September 2025 created a security nightmare for India. During the chaos, over 15,000 prisoners escaped, and firearms were looted from police armouries, prompting India to put the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) on high alert.
The elections are seen as a ‘credibility test’ for Nepal, determining if the country can move past its legacy of corruption and embrace a new generation of leadership.
A stable government that can secure the border and prevent it from being used by third-party actors or criminal elements.
