Voters in Nepal will cast their votes to elect a new government on March 5. These elections are also being monitored at the international level, because this is the first general election after the violent protests by youth in September 2025. Then the government of the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had fallen. After Oli’s resignation, an interim government was formed under the leadership of former Chief Justice of Nepal Sushila Karki, which is now holding elections. In this election, former Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah, KP Sharma Oli and Gagan Thapa are being considered as the main contenders for the post of Prime Minister. Results will be out in 24 hours. A total of 65 political parties are in the fray in the elections. Counting of votes will start as soon as voting ends. Hopefully it will be revealed within the next 24 hours. Voting will start on March 5 at 7 am (6:45 am Indian time). Voting will be held till 5 pm at more than 23 thousand polling stations across the country. About 1.9 crore voters have registered for the elections. Of these, about 8 lakh youth will vote for the first time. The minimum voting age in Nepal is 18 years. This time around 10 lakh more voters have been registered compared to the previous parliamentary elections in November 2022. After the youth movement, people’s interest in politics has increased. How does voting take place in Nepal? Mixed election system is in force in Nepal since 2015. Under this, out of total 275 seats in the Parliament, 165 MPs are directly elected by the public. That is, on these seats people elect the candidate of their area by voting. The remaining 110 seats are filled through the proportional representation system. In this, political parties get seats in the Parliament in proportion to the percentage of votes they get across the country and the parties nominate their MPs. Competition between Balen Shah and Gagan Thapa According to experts, there is a race going on to establish influence in Kathmandu through this election. America is also increasing its influence in Nepal, which is stuck between India and China. India is believed to not want Oli to become Prime Minister again. Oli’s popularity has decreased after the GenZ movement. His party CPN-UML does not seem to be getting many seats in this election. If the performance of Oli’s party remains poor, then there could be a direct contest for the post of Prime Minister between Gagan Thapa of Nepali Congress and Balen Shah of Rashtriya Swatantra Party. Nepali Congress has old and good relations with India. The party remains cautious about Nepal-China trade relations, especially regarding loans for BRI projects. This is the reason why America and western countries also like this party. At the same time, working with Balen Shah can be a bit difficult, because he is considered a more emotional and unpredictable leader. The reason for India’s displeasure was also that when Shah was the mayor of Kathmandu, he had put a map of ‘Greater Nepal’ in his office. He also tried to ban some Indian films. Shah has presented himself as a leader who is not under the influence of any country. That’s when he rejected the invitation to visit China. However, the Rashtriya Swatantra Party to which he is associated, is considered closer to India.
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नेपाल में कौन बनेगा प्रधानमंत्री, 275 सीटों पर आज चुनाव: गगन थापा, बालेन शाह और केपी शर्मा ओली के बीच मुकाबला
