Early trends from vote counting in Nepal on Friday show the Rastriya Swatantra Party taking a commanding lead in the majority of constituencies counted so far, according to data released by the Election Commission of Nepal.
Initial counting across 43 constituencies indicates the Rastriya Swatantra Party is leading in 35 seats, significantly ahead of its rivals.
The Nepali Congress is ahead in four constituencies, while the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) has taken early leads in three seats. The Nepali Communist Party is leading in one constituency, the commission said.
Other political parties, including the Shram Sanskriti Party, Ujyalo Nepal, Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal , have not yet registered a lead in any constituency.
Vote counting is continuing across the Himalayan nation.
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli is trailing by nearly 1,100 votes against his challenger Balendra Shah, according to the latest trends.
Voters are directly electing 165 members to the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Parliament. The remaining 110 seats in the 275-member body will be allocated through a proportional representation system under which political parties nominate lawmakers based on their share of the vote.
The elections are widely seen as a three-way contest between the newly formed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), led by former rapper and Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah, and established political forces including Oli’s Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) (CPN-UML), the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), and the centrist Nepali Congress, led by 49-year-old Gagan Thapa.
Analysts say the RSP could have an advantage given Nepal’s youthful demographic profile and the momentum generated by last year’s protest movement. However, many also expect the elections to produce a fractured mandate, making it likely that a coalition government will have to be formed once results are declared.
