KATHMANDU, Feb 16,  (V7N) - Nepali candidates began campaigning Monday for next month’s parliamentary elections, the first since deadly anti-corruption protests toppled the government in 2025. Interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki said the March 5 vote would “draw the future of the country.”

The youth-led protests, triggered by a brief social media ban but fuelled by anger at economic stagnation and an ageing elite, left 77 people dead and hundreds of buildings destroyed, including parliament and courts. Former prime minister KP Sharma Oli was ousted in the violence, the worst since Nepal’s civil war ended in 2006.

Campaigns will run for two weeks, with younger candidates promising change against veteran politicians who stress stability. A key contest will see rapper-turned-mayor Balendra Shah, 35, challenge Oli in his constituency. Shah, known as Balen, has joined the Rastriya Swatantra Party, while the Nepali Congress is fielding new leader Gagan Thapa, 49.

Royalist nostalgia also features, with supporters of ex-king Gyanendra Shah rallying in Kathmandu under the Rastriya Prajatantra Party banner.

Nearly 19 million voters, including 800,000 first-timers, are registered to elect 275 members of the House of Representatives — 165 directly and 110 proportionally. More than 3,400 candidates are contesting, 30 percent under age 40.

Campaign banners and rallies are already underway, with extra security deployed — around 300,000 officers and election police — to ensure calm. Despite concerns over snowbound high-altitude areas, the Election Commission says polls will proceed as scheduled.

“This election has to give the country a way out,” Karki said, underscoring the vote’s significance in Nepal’s fragile political transition.

END/WD/RH