Nepal elections: Rapper Balen Shah’s RSP to capture power

Widening its lead over former prime minister KP Sharma Oli’s party, Balendra Shah’s Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) is heading towards a landslide in Nepal’s parliamentary elections, leading in 110 constituencies in the latest round of vote counting. Acording to Nepal’s Election Commission data, from 161 of the 165 constituencies, the RSP has already won six seats and is ahead in another 110, local media reported. Balendra Shah, who recently served as the Mayor of Kathmandu, has secured more than 15,000 votes in Jhapa-5, a constituency long considered the stronghold of four-time prime minister and CPN-UML chairman KP Sharma Oli. Oli has received just 3,300 votes so far. Nepal’s lower house of parliament has 275 seats in total. Of these, 165 members are elected through direct elections under the first-past-the-post system, where vote counting is currently underway. The remaining 110 seats will be allocated later through the proportional representation system.