Nepal launches campaigns for first post-uprising polls

Nepal's first post-uprising elections see former PM K.P. Sharma Oli challenged by youth-driven candidate Balendra Shah in intense campaigns.

Nepali candidates launched campaigning on Monday (February 16, 2026) for next month's parliamentary elections, the first since deadly anti-corruption protests toppled the previous government in 2025.

In the key battleground of Jhapa-5 — a Constituency in Nepal's eastern plains with the world's highest peaks on the horizon — a head-to-head political fight dominating the campaign was already heating up.

The ousted former Prime Minister's bid to return to power — 73-year-old Marxist leader K.P. Sharma Oli - is being challenged on his home turf by a rapper-turned-mayor casting himself as a symbol of youth-driven political change, 35-year-old Balendra Shah.

Both Mr. Oli and Mr. Shah kicked off campaigning in Jhapa on Monday (February 16, 2026), wooing voters to their cause. "KP Oli is a need of this nation," 66-year-old Jhapa resident Hima Karki told AFP, one of 163,000 voters in the Constituency, a mix of towns and farming settlements. "He is the saviour of the nation, and his victory from here is certain."

Others were more doubtful of Mr. Oli's return to power. "Only the youth can bring change," said Chhabi Khatiwoda, 33, a Jhapa resident who has switched his support from Mr. Oli to Mr. Shah, who has joined the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), the fourth biggest in the last Parliament.

"It is high time we all became politically aware and work for a new Nepal." The youth-led protests in September were triggered by a brief social media ban, but were fuelled by anger at economic stagnation and an ageing elite seen as out of touch.