Nepal votes today: From monarchy to Gen Z uprising – tracing the Himalayan nation's tryst with political turmoil

Nepal votes today: Nepal is voting today in a high-stakes Parliamentary election taking place six months after deadly anti-corruption protests toppled the government.

The Himalayan nation will elect a new government, replacing the interim government that has led the country of 30 million people since the September 2025 uprising in which at least 77 people were killed.

Sushila Karki, the interim prime minister, has urged people to vote "without any fear". Voters will elect 275 members of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament -- 165 directly and 110 via party-list proportional representation.

The Key Figures

Key figures contesting today's election include a former prime minister seeking a return to power, a rapper-turned-mayor seeking the youth vote, and the newly elected leader of the Nepali Congress party.

Among the frontrunners for prime minister is rapper-turned-politician and former Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah, 35, of the centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP).

Facing him in the Jhapa 5 constituency is four-time prime minister Oli, 74, of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist), vying for the top post again. Other contenders include the centrist Nepali Congress party's 49-year-old Gagan Thapa and three-time prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, 71, who now leads the Nepali Communist Party.

The landlocked Himalayan nation has been riven by political instability for decades, with 32 governments taking office since 1990 and none of them completing a five-year term.

Here is a brief history of the instability of Nepali politics:

The Monarchy Days

Parliamentary democracy was established in Nepal in 1951. Prior to that, Nepal was ruled by monarchs from various dynasties.

But a decade later, King Mahendra suspended the constitution and banned political parties. His son, King Birendra, retained full control of the country till 1990, when the absolute monarchy was reduced to a constitutional one, news agency Reuters reported.

Elections in 1991, 1999

In elections held in 1991 and 1999, the centrist Nepali Congress - the country's oldest political party - won a clear majority required to form the government. The dispensation, however, did not last its full term either time because of internal and inter-party squabbling.

In 2001, King Birendra and eight other royals were killed in a palace massacre by his son, Crown Prince Dipendra, who later turned the gun on himself, according to an official inquiry.

In 2005, King Birendra's successor, Gyanendra, took power himself, only to be overthrown a year later following street protests against his actions.

A national unity government headed by the Nepali Congress took power in 2006. It lasted just two years.

Monarchy Ends in 2008

In 2008, a special assembly dominated by former Maoist rebels, who joined mainstream politics under a peace deal, voted to abolish the 239-year-old monarchy.

The Communist Party of Nepal faction controlled by the former rebels then took power, but the shift to a republic failed to create political stability.

There have been 15 changes in government since then, as power has circulated among the former Maoist rebels' party, the moderate Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), and the Nepali Congress.

The Gen Z Protests of 2025

In 2015, a new constitution came into force, after two constituent assemblies worked on the document for over seven years. This, too, was unable to produce durable administrations.

Last September, a simmering online anti-corruption movement exploded into Gen Z-led street protests that forced out the government led by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli of the Communist Party of Nepal (UML).

Former Chief Justice Sushila Karki then took over as the interim leader, tasked with overseeing the general election scheduled for 5 March.

(With inputs from Reuters and AP)