With the close of nominations, the contours of Nepal’s next parliamentary contest on March 5, 2026, have begun to take shape. These elections carry profound implications for India’s strategic interests. The voting comes after a violent Gen Z uprising that ousted the Oli government in September 2025 and reinstated Nepal’s first female PM, Sushila Karki, as an interim leader. What initially gained momentum as a youth protest against a government ban on social media platforms has now evolved into strong opposition to the political system, replete with decades of unstable coalitions, corruption, and inadequate governance by the same parties rotating in power.
