On Thursday, March 5, 2026, polls in Nepal opened at 7 a.m. for the first nationwide election since September’s violent youth-led uprising forced the government from power.
Key Figures
Figures contesting for power in Nepal include the Marxist former prime minister seeking a return to office, a rapper-turned-mayor bidding for the youth vote, and the newly elected leader of the Nepali Congress party.
Nepal‘s acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari reported 60 percent voter turnout with only a few minor incidents. “The voting process has been concluded peacefully and enthusiastically,” he said.
KP Sharma Oli is the 74-year-old Marxist leader who was ousted in September and is seeking a return to power, was challenged in the election by former Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah, who is a 35-year-old rapper-turned-politician.
Oli asserts, “This election must reestablish democracy and contribute to end non-political, anarchic, and violent tendencies.”
Shah is from the centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and has cast himself as a symbol of youth-driven political change.
Also running for aspiring prime minister is Gagan Thapa, 49, the head of the country’s oldest party, Nepali Congress. He wants to end the “old age” club of revolving veteran leaders.
He asserts it is “the duty of the leaders” to ensure the events that took place in September do not happen again.
More than 3,400 candidates are running for the 165 seats in direct elections to the 275-member House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, with 110 more chosen via party lists.
Voters Hopeful
“Nepalis have been waiting for change for so long, from one system to another. I hope there is meaningful change this time,” states Nilanta Shakya, 60, who was one of the first to vote at a college in Kathmandu.
An interim government has been in place since the September 2025 uprising, in which 77 people were killed, and parliament, along with several government buildings, were torched.
Youth-led protests began as a demonstration against a brief social media ban that fed wider grievances against corruption and a failing economy.
Nirmala Bhandari, 50, is a housewife who danced in the street with friends after casting her vote in Bhaktapur, said, “Today feels like a day of celebration. I am hopeful that the country will get new leaders and that we will build a better nation.”
Full results will take several days, but some winners are expected to be published as early as Friday.
The polls have closed, and the ballot boxes have been collected. Helicopters collected ballot boxes from snowbound mountain regions across Nepal.
Voters shared photographs of their ink-marked thumbs on social media, along with images from the September protests.
“At the Gen Z protest, people died — and their blood will bring change, we hope. We hope a government with good governance, no corruption, comes this time,” says Tek Bahadur Aale, 66, after he voted in Jhapa.
AP News and NBC News both report: “The next administration is expected to inherit daunting challenges. It must deliver on changes demanded by last year’s protests, tackle entrenched corruption and carefully manage ties with its powerful neighbors, India and China.”
Sources:
NBC News: Rapper-turned-mayor hopes to become Nepal’s new leader in first election since Gen Z-led protests ousted government
AP News: Voting passes peacefully in Nepal’s first election since September youth-led protests
NDTV: Nepal Elections 2026 Live Updates: Nepal Sees Over 18% Turnout Till 12 PM
Featured Image Courtesy of Ashish Lohorung’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
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