PM Narendra Modi Dials Balendra Shah, Congratulates Him On Winning Nepal Elections

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke to Balendra Shah and his party president, Rabi Lamichhane, over the phone to congratulate them on their election victory in Nepal. The Prime Minister expressed India's commitment to working closely with them for the mutual prosperity, progress, and well-being of both countries. During his telephone conversation with the two Nepali leaders, Prime Minister Modi expressed his confidence that through joint efforts, India-Nepal relations will reach new heights in the coming years.

PM Modi shared information about this conversation on the social media site X. He wrote, "Had a cordial phone conversation with Rabi Lamichhane, President of the Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and Balendra Shah, senior leader of the RSP." The Prime Minister said that he congratulated both leaders on their electoral victory and the resounding success of their party, the Rashtriya Swatantra Party, in the Nepal elections. He said, "I conveyed my best wishes to their incoming new government and reiterated India's commitment to work with them for the mutual prosperity, progress, and well-being of both countries."

It is noteworthy that these were the first elections in Nepal after the Jind-G protests. In this election, the youth have sidelined the old parties and expressed their trust in the newly formed Rashtriya Swatantra Party and its young candidate, Balendra Shah. Balendra defeated former Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Oli from the Jhapa constituency. He enjoys immense popularity among the people of Nepal. Balendra, who studied in Nagpur, is leading the race to become Nepal's new Prime Minister.

There are a total of 275 seats in Nepal's House of Representatives. Of these, 165 members are elected through the direct voting system, while 110 members are elected through the proportional representation system. So far, results have been declared for 161 of the 165 seats in Nepal under direct voting in the general elections. Results for the remaining four seats are expected soon.

Under proportional voting, the Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) received 4,049,604 votes. This was followed by NC with 13,60,281 votes, CPN-UML with 11,50,679, NCP with 5,91,940, Shramik Sanskriti Party with 2,91,965, Janata Samajwadi Party with 1,16,463 and Rashtriya Parivartan Party with 2,76,931 votes.

Political analysts say that with over 40 lakh votes under the proportional representation system, RSP is expected to get at least 40 additional seats, taking its tally to around 164 in the 275-member House of Representatives, much more than the 138 seats required for a simple majority.