KATHMANDU, MARCH 7
Balendra Shah of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has been officially elected to the House of Representatives from Jhapa Constituency-5, defeating former prime minister and CPN-UML chairman KP Sharma Oli by a margin of 49,614 votes in what stands as the most dramatic result of Nepal's March 5 general election.
According to the Office of the Returning Officer, Shah secured 68,348 votes against Oli's 18,734. Samir Tamang of the Shram Sanskriti Party finished third with 9,233 votes, followed by Mandhara Chimariya of the Nepali Congress with 1,821 and Laxmi Prasad Sangraula of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party with 1,536.
Of the constituency's 163,379 registered voters, 106,568 cast their ballots on election day, a turnout that underscored the intense public interest in the contest.
The result ends the political career of one of Nepal's most dominant figures in his own stronghold. Oli, who has served as prime minister twice and led the CPN-UML for decades, was defeated by Shah, the former Mayor of Kathmandu better known as Balen, who built his political identity on an anti-establishment platform and rode the wave of the Gen Z movement that reshaped Nepali politics last September.
The victory is also deeply personal for Shah, who chose to contest Jhapa-5 specifically to take on Oli, making the constituency one of the most watched in the country throughout the campaign.
