As I have learnt, observing Nepal’s elections, its dual-election system all but excludes “knock-out” victory. Typically, counting continues tediously for weeks. Party bosses sit cheek by jowl, quarrelling over paltry, disputed ballots.  The 5 March election was called after youth protests in September 2025 forced the resignation of  K. P. Sharma Oli. This year, the Gen Z vote brought seismic change. From e-day 5 March 2026, it was apparent that the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) under rapper-turned-politician, Balendra Shah, had broken the glass ceiling. The country’s allegedly corrupt political elite and entrenched power structures fell. Symbolically, Balendra himself trounced Oli even on his home turf. Thus, the barely four-year-old RSP pulled off a decisive majority. The CPN (Nepal’s Communist Party) simply folded like a box of cards.

How did Nepal electorally transform, and why is Gen Z so important? The immediate catalyst for the unrest was the Cabinet decision on 4 September 2025 to ban major social media platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, and WhatsApp, citing their failure to register under new, restrictive digital laws. This digital blackout was widely perceived as an attempt to stifle dissent and stymy communication networks used by activists. In response, a leaderless movement, predominantly organised by students, erupted on 8 September 2025. Protesters converged at Maitighar Mandala and marched toward the Federal Parliament Building, demanding an end to both the digital embargo and the Council of Ministers.

The situation became a “Day of Rage” with the army firing to quell the crowds. By 9 September, eighty people had been killed and over 2,000 injured as protesters set fire to several government structures, including Oli’s  Office. Things only worsened. Amidst the total collapse of civilian governance and mass desertion within his cabinet, Oli resigned on 9 September 2025. Thereafter, Nepal’s military assumed control of security in the Kathmandu Valley to stabilise the region, after the country’s senior leaders had to be ignominiously evacuated.

However, RSP’s campaign gathered momentum only after the entry of a charismatic newcomer, possessing a vast social media following. Balendra Shah waltzed the Kathmandu mayoral race in 2022 and quickly built a combative reputation. For many voters, it represented a generational shift. The result is rather symbolic of young people’s thinking- a desperation for change but no coherent plan. Balendra, 35, possesses merely three years of political experience as mayor of the capital, Kathmandu. They were popular years. But everyone I spoke to in Kathmandu, Pokhara and in the regional city of Nepalgunj, bordering India, spoke only of hope. I called on a Kathmandu hospital, visibly full of RSP supporters. The medical superintendent, Dr Ramesh, explained Balen’s victory thus:

That he is a relative newcomer to politics is widely viewed as a strength, not a weakness, by........

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