Kathmandu — Senior leader of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Balen Shah, has been elected to the House of Representatives from Jhapa Constituency No. 5, securing the highest number of votes ever recorded in Nepal’s parliamentary election history.
According to the final vote count, Shah received 68,348 votes, while CPN-UML Chairman and former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli secured 18,734 votes. The large margin between the two candidates marks a decisive victory for Shah in the constituency.
Shah’s vote total is the highest ever obtained by a candidate in Nepal’s parliamentary elections. Previously, the record was held by KP Sharma Oli, who won the 2017 House of Representatives election from Jhapa-5 with 57,139 votes. In the same election, CPN-UML leader Parbat Gurung was elected from Dolakha with 55,361 votes.
In the 2023 by-election in Chitwan-2, RSP Chairman Rabi Lamichhane won the seat with 54,176 votes, also one of the highest vote totals in recent elections. In the latest parliamentary election, RSP candidate Sobita Gautam won Chitwan-3 with 59,277 votes, while Rabi Lamichhane received 54,402 votes from Chitwan-2.
Similarly, Rubina Acharya of the RSP was elected from Morang-6 with 55,513 votes. In Kavre-2, Badan Kumar Bhandari won with 53,344 votes, while Sulabh Kharel secured victory in Rupandehi-2 with 56,550 votes.
Shah’s victory in Jhapa-5 is also significant as it marks another major defeat for KP Sharma Oli, who had earlier lost the seat during the 2008 Constituent Assembly election to Bishwadeep Lingden of the then CPN-Maoist.
