Jhapa (Damak): As the vote counting for the 2026 House of Representatives election continues across Nepal, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) is leading in the majority of constituencies. As of the time of writing, RSP is leading in 108 constituencies. Similarly, the Nepali Congress leads in 13 constituencies, the CPN-UML in 10, and the Nepali Communist Party in 7.
So far, RSP has secured three seats. Shishir Khanal won from Kathmandu-6 with 27,711 votes, while his closest contender, Krishna Baniya Chhetri of the Nepali Congress, garnered 6,647 votes. Biraj Bhakta Shrestha won from Kathmandu-8 with 24,592 votes, defeating his closest contender, Suman Sayami of the Nepali Communist Party, who received 3,217 votes. Similarly, Ranju Neupane won from Kathmandu-1, securing 15,455 votes, while her closest contender, Prabal Thapa Chhetri of the Nepali Congress, received 6,364 votes.
Similarly, the Nepali Congress has won two seats. Yogesh Gauchan Thakali won from Mustang-1 with 3,307 votes, while his closest contender, Indra Dhara Dhadhu Bista of CPN-UML, received 1,706 votes. Tek Bahadur Gurung won from Manang-1 with 2,415 votes, defeating his closest contender, Yosodha Gurung (Subedi) of the Nepali Communist Party, who received 454 votes.
The Nepali Communist Party has secured one seat. Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the party coordinator and former prime minister, won from Rukum Purba-1 with 10,240 votes, while his closest contender, Lila Mani Gautam of CPN-UML, secured 3,462 votes.
Likewise, in the first-past-the-post category, RSP is leading with 16,726 votes. The Nepali Congress has 4,987 votes, CPN-UML has 1,802 votes, the Nepali Communist Party has 564 votes, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party has 2,536 votes, and the Shram Sanskriti Party has 686 votes.
Jhapa-5: The hotspot
Akin to many other constituencies, Jhapa-5, considered the epicentre of the 2026 House of Representatives elections due to the high-profile candidates KP Sharma Oli, chair of CPN-UML and former prime minister, and Balendra Shah (Balen), senior leader of the RSP and former mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, has drawn significant national attention. Both men are viewed as potential prime ministerial contenders if their parties secure enough seats in Parliament. In the constituency, RSP is currently leading with a notable margin.
As of now, Balen has secured 15,161 votes, while Oli has secured 3344 votes.
Since vote counting began in Jhapa-5, Balen has maintained a lead. In the first vote count update at 7:55 am, Balen secured 1,478 votes, while Oli received 385 votes. In the second update at 1:33 pm, Balen secured 5,254 votes, while Oli received 1,248 votes.
In the third update at 3:47 pm, Balen had 6,551 votes, while Oli secured 1,428 votes. In the fourth update at 5:10 pm, Balen’s tally reached 10,466 votes, while Oli received 2,205 votes. In the fifth update, released 10 minutes later at 5:20 pm, Balen secured 11,945 votes, while Oli received 2,692 votes.
In the sixth update at 6:30 pm, Balen received 13,654 votes, while Oli secured 3,011 votes. In the seventh update, the latest at the time of writing, Balen had 15,169 votes, while Oli received 3,344 votes. Altogether 22,691 votes have been counted, among them 21,641 are valid votes.
The vote count suggests a consistent and widening lead for Balen over KP Sharma Oli in Jhapa-5. From the very first update, Balen established a significant advantage and has maintained that lead throughout successive rounds of counting. Each update shows his vote tally increasing at a faster pace than that of Oli, indicating strong voter support across the ballots counted so far.
Jhapa-5 has already been considered a place with the stronghold of KP Sharma Oli. Except for the elections held in 2008, he has consistently won here. In the 2023 General Elections, he secured 54,319 votes and won with a huge margin of 28,576 votes against his closest contender, Khagendra Adhikari of the NC. However, this time the mood appeared different. If the current pattern continues in the remaining rounds of counting, Balen is likely to maintain a comfortable lead.
