Nepal election results: The three-year-old Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) is poised to come to power in Nepal, riding on the back of the September 2025 Gen Z protests that ousted the K P Sharma Oli government.Its leader, rapper-turned-Kathmandu mayor Balendra ‘Balen’ Shah, is set to become Prime Minister.But this is not the RSP’s first brush with power. It was part of a coalition government in 2022 and its founder, Rabi Lamichhane, was briefly deputy prime minister. But it was besieged by a series of controversies that brought it down.As of Saturday (March 7) afternoon, the RSP had won 34 seats and was leading in 85 seats as counting continued in the elections to the 275-member parliament.So how did such a young party put up such a strong performance? Here’s a short history of the RSP, and the effect Balen Shah had on it.Party formationIn July 2022, Lamichhane, a TV presenter known for reporting on public issues, announced his candidacy for the parliamentary elections that year. He also announced the formation of the RSP, predominantly featuring candidates aged below 40.The party positioned itself as a challenger to mainstream parties, saying they had failed to curb corruption and deliver good governance. The RSP’s ideology aligns with centrist tenets: pro-market and pro-welfare with progressive views.Story continues below this adThe RSP fielded candidates in 131 constituencies and secured 21 seats (seven direct, 13 proportional) in the November 2022 elections, making it the fourth-largest party in the 275-member House of Representatives. This stellar showing helped it rise to the ranks of a national party in the federal parliament.The RSP joined Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s coalition government, with Lamichhane becoming deputy prime minister and party leader Indira Rana Magar being made deputy speaker of the House.In January 2023, however, the Nepal Supreme Court held that Lamicchane’s citizenship was invalid as he had not followed the legal procedures to re-acquire Nepali citizenship after relinquishing American citizenship.This forced the party to withdraw from the cabinet. The party’s mixed innings continued, with it on the backfoot even as Lamicchane was named in several controversies.Story continues below this adBetween 2024 and 2025, the party president was accused of misappropriating millions of rupees from various cooperatives while he presided over the Gorkha Media Network. The Supreme Court ordered his arrest in April 2025, and he was released in September.He was also accused of transferring large sums of money — originally designated for his foundation to build a hospital — to his wife’s bank account. The hospital in Raskot, Kalikot, has been under the scanner over the quality of materials used and the costs thus incurred.Unifying faceEnter Balendra ‘Balen’ Shah. Until 2022, he was best-known as a rapper whose songs (such as Balidan) criticised establishment politics and connected with the youth.That year, the then-31-year-old won the Kathmandu mayor election as an independent candidate, having campaigned on the planks of transparency and accountability.Story continues below this adA 2023 article by The New York Times referenced the “Balen effect”, noting the influx of young blood into the Nepalese electoral race, until then crowded with senior parliamentarians aged over 70.During his mayoral tenure, Shah successfully oversaw his agenda for a clean Kathmandu and the restoration of its heritage structures, amidst criticism over human rights violations. The Indian Express reported he had drawn in widespread public support, through measures such as footpath expansion for pedestrians, removal of pavement vendors and bulldozing of slums and illegally built houses, irrespective of who owned them. He quickly rose to the ranks of a leader who could face off against the likes of Oli, who had resisted such change despite holding the Prime Minister’s office.The turning point for Balen Shah and the RSPBalen Shah’s hour came as the Gen Z protests unfolded in September 2025. The Maithili-speaking Madhesiya quickly threw his weight behind the young protestors, and called for calm amid the continued violence. After Oli resigned, he wrote in a Facebook post: “Dear Gen Z, the resignation of your killer has come. Now your generation will have to lead the country. Be prepared.”He also supported the elevation of former chief justice Sushila Karki as interim prime minister.Story continues below this adOn December 28, 2025, he joined the RSP and was announced as its prime ministerial candidate, infusing a fresh lease of life into the embattled party. He soon announced that he would contest the elections from Jhapa-5 constituency, against Oli.Under Shah, the RSP has vowed to create 1.2 million jobs and reduce emigration from Nepal, even as the country’s youth remain disillusioned over unemployment and low wages. In its manifesto, titled “Citizen Contract 202”, the party has also promised to more than double the per capita income from $1,447 to $3,000, more than double the nation’s economy to $100 billion in GDP, while expanding healthcare insurance for the entire population within the next five years.