KATHMANDU: The final vote count of the March 5 House of Representatives (HoR) election is underway, revealing a strong surge of young lawmakers. The elections, held amid the backdrop of the Gen Z movement, saw overwhelming support for the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP).
Reflecting the rising influence of Gen Z against traditional parties, many candidates under 35 defeated veteran politicians, marking a significant entry of youth into the country’s supreme lawmaking body.
A total of 20 RSP candidates under 35 secured victory in the HoR elections. In addition, Nepali Congress, Shram Sanskriti Party, and Rastriya Prajatantra Party each had one under-35 candidate elected.
Among the notable winners, Sobita Gautam, 30, won Chitwan-3 with 59,277 votes, defeating Renu Dahal of the Nepali Communist Party by more than 20,000 votes. This marks her second term as an HoR member; she previously represented Kathmandu-2. Gautam holds a law degree.
Sulav Kharel, 26, also made headlines by defeating veteran UML leader Bishnu Paudel in Rupandehi-2, securing 56,550 votes. Kharel is a law graduate from Nepal Law Campus.
In Morang-6, Rubina Acharya, under 35, defeated Dr. Shekhar Koirala of the Nepali Congress, gathering 55,513 votes against Koirala’s 12,850.
Other young RSP lawmakers include Badan Kumar Bhandari, 33, from Kavrepalanchowk-2, who won with 53,344 votes; Nisha Dangi, 29, from Jhapa-1 with 45,680 votes; and Manish Khanal, 26, from Nawalpur-2 with 41,347 votes. All are law graduates or hold advanced degrees, and several have previous political or social service experience.
The youth wave also brought Bablu Gupta, 28, from Siraha-1; Santosh Rajbanshi, 34, from Morang-4; Shiba Shankar Yadav, 30, from Siraha-2; Tapeshwor Yadav, 32, from Siraha-4; Deepak Kumar Shah, 34, from Mahottari-2; Ujjawal Kumar Jha, 33, from Mahottari-3; Sasmit Pokharel, 29, from Kathmandu-5; Prashant Upreti, from Makawanpur-2; Sagar Dhakal, 34, from Gulmi-1; Sushant Baidik, from Pyuthan-1; Ranju Neupane (Darshana), 30, from Kathmandu-1; Som Sharma, 34, from Baglung-2; Jhabi Lal Dumre, 30, from Syangja-2; and Ramji Yadav, 30, from Saptari-2.
The youngest among them, KP Khanal, 26, of RSP, won Kailali-2 with 19,057 votes. Known for his social activism, Khanal has led nationwide clean-up campaigns such as Clean Kasthamandap and Kathmandu Trash Collection.
Meanwhile, Yogesh Gauchan, 32, of Nepali Congress, won Mustang-1, Gyan Bahadur Shahi, 34, of Rastriya Prajatantra Party, won Jumla-1, and Aren Rai, 29, of Shram Sanskriti Party, secured Khotang-1.
Comment