Nepal election 2026: PM Modi congratulates RSP's Balendra Shah, vows to deepen bilateral ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on Monday with leaders of Nepal’s Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Rabi Lamichhane and rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah, to congratulate them on their election victory and reaffirmed India’s commitment to working together for the shared prosperity, development and wellbeing of both nations.

During the phone calls, PM Modi stated he was confident that with joint efforts, ties between India and Nepal would reach new heights in the coming years.

He took to X and said, “Had warm telephone conversations with Mr. Rabi Lamichhane, Chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and Mr. Balendra Shah, Senior Leader of the RSP. Conveyed my best wishes for their forthcoming new Government and India's commitment to work with them for mutual prosperity, progress and well-being of our two countries."

Famously called as "Balen", the 35-year-old prime-ministerial candidate of the RSP defeated four-time former prime minister K P Sharma Oli, the chair of Nepal's legacy party, CPN-UML, by a huge margin of nearly 50,000 votes in the Jhapa-5 constituency.

India remains Nepal’s largest trading partner, accounting for 63 percent of its imports, worth about $8.6 billion, while China follows with 13 percent, or roughly $1.8 billion, according to figures from the World Bank.

Nepal election 2026

House of Representatives of Nepal has a total of 275 seats, of which 165 members are chosen through the first-past-the-post (direct voting) system, while the remaining 110 are elected through proportional representation.

In the ongoing general election, results for 161 of the 165 directly elected seats have already been announced, with the outcomes for the remaining four seats expected soon.

Although the full results are yet to be declared, Balendra Shah’s Rastriya Swatantra Party has so far secured 125 of the 165 direct-vote seats and 58 out of the 110 seats under proportional representation, according to BBC. By comparison, the party led by KP Sharma Oli has won eight seats through direct voting and 16 through proportional representation so far, with a party spokesperson describing the results as “unexpected.”

Meanwhile, Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, spokesperson for the Election Commission of Nepal, said counting of votes under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system is expected to be completed by Monday night, while the proportional representation vote count should finish by Tuesday night, according to PTI.

Explaining the delay in the process, Bhattarai said adverse weather in the mountainous regions the day after polling prevented helicopters from landing to transport ballot papers, which slowed the counting.

However, he noted that the counting process has been quicker compared with previous elections. In some cases, delays also occurred due to disputes among representatives of different political parties.