The vote counting for the March 5 elections in Nepal’s House of Representatives has concluded, with the Election Commission (EC) preparing for the official announcement of results. Kul Bahadur GC, an assistant spokesperson for the EC, confirmed that while the counting is complete, final results are pending due to ongoing data entry processes. The entire vote-counting procedure took approximately a week.

Proportional Representation Votes Counted

By Wednesday afternoon, all proportional representation (PR) votes for the House of Representatives had been tallied. According to the data entered by the EC, a total of 10,789,078 PR votes were counted across the country. The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), led by Rabi Lamichhane, emerged with the highest number of votes under the PR system, amassing 5,158,810 votes, which accounts for 47.82 percent of the total. Presently, the RSP is two seats short of achieving a two-thirds majority in the House.

Seat Projections for Major Parties

The RSP secured 125 direct seats and is anticipated to gain around 57 PR seats, although the final allocation may vary slightly after the official seat distribution is concluded. The Nepali Congress garnered 1,756,043 votes, translating to 16.28 percent of the total votes. With 18 direct seats, the party is likely to add approximately 20 PR seats, elevating its total to 38, thus positioning it as the second-largest party.

The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) [CPN-UML] received 1,452,939 votes, or 13.47 percent. Having won 9 direct seats, it is projected to acquire 16 PR seats, totaling 25 seats in the House. Meanwhile, the Nepali Communist Party (NCP), led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, secured 809,641 votes, corresponding to 7.5 percent. With 7 direct seats, it is expected to gain 9 PR seats, bringing its overall total to 16 seats.

Emerging Political Parties and Their Performance

The Shram Sanskriti Party, which has recently gained national party status, received 385,748 votes, amounting to 3.58 percent. With 3 direct seats and 4 PR seats, it is projected to achieve a total of 7 seats, thus becoming the fifth-largest party. Additionally, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) crossed the 3 percent threshold with 330,281 votes, winning 1 direct seat and 3 PR seats, leading to an overall total of 4 seats. This marks a significant drop from the previous election, where the RPP held 14 seats, following the loss of its chairman, Rajendra Lingden, in Jhapa-3.

Potential Outcomes and Legal Review

Based on preliminary estimates, the RSP is anticipated to secure a total of 182 seats, while the Nepali Congress is projected to obtain 38 seats, followed by CPN (UML) with 25 seats and NCP with 16 seats. The Shram Sanskriti Party is expected to end with 7 seats, the RPP with 5 seats, and independents securing 1 seat. To form a government, a minimum of 138 seats is necessary, while 184 seats are required for a two-thirds majority. Currently, the RSP is short by two seats to reach this threshold.

In a related development, the candidacy of RSP candidate Kishori Sah Kamal in Dhanusha-1 was annulled, despite more than 23,000 votes being cast for her. Following the cancellation, the EC awarded the seat to NCP candidate Matrika Yadav. The Supreme Court is set to evaluate this case on March 13. Should the court rule against the cancellation, the RSP may achieve a two-thirds majority in the House.

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