Modi Congratulates Nepal on Elections, Says India Ready to Work With New Government
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (March 7) congratulated Nepal on the successful conduct of the country’s parliamentary elections and said India looked forward to working with the country’s new government, even as vote counting indicated a landslide win for the Rastriya Swatantra Party.
“I warmly congratulate the people and Government of Nepal on the successful and peaceful conduct of elections. It is heartening to see my Nepali sisters and brothers exercise their democratic rights so vibrantly,” Modi wrote on X.
“This historic milestone is a proud moment in Nepal’s democratic journey,” he added.
The Indian prime minister also said New Delhi looked forward to working with the incoming government. “As a close friend and neighbour, India remains steadfast in its commitment to working closely with the people of Nepal and their new Government to scale new heights of shared peace, progress and prosperity.”
I warmly congratulate the people and Government of Nepal on the successful and peaceful conduct of elections. It is heartening to see my Nepali sisters and brothers exercise their democratic rights so vibrantly.
This historic milestone is a proud moment in Nepal’s democratic…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 7, 2026
Modi’s message on Saturday followed a statement issued a day earlier by the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) welcoming the successful conduct of the elections in Nepal.
The elections held on March 5 were called after Nepal’s parliament was dissolved in September 2025 following months of political turmoil sparked by the youth led Gen Z protests.
The demonstrations, led largely by young voters frustrated with corruption, economic stagnation and the dominance of traditional political parties, escalated into a nationwide uprising that forced the resignation of then prime minister K.P. Sharma Oli and led to the dissolution of the House of Representatives.
In one of the most closely watched contests, Balendra Shah, RSP’s prime ministerial candidate defeated Oli in Jhapa 5 by 49,614 votes. Shah secured 68,348 votes while Oli received 18,734 votes, according to results reported by the Kathmandu Post.
Shah rose to national prominence after winning the Kathmandu mayoral election in 2022 as an independent candidate. A civil engineer and rapper, he resigned from the post earlier this year to enter national politics and was named by the Rastriya Swatantra Party as its prime ministerial candidate.
As counting continued on Saturday, results and trends reported by Nepali media suggested that the Rastriya Swatantra Party was on way to get a two-thirds majority.
In the 275-member HoR, 165 members are elected through first-past-the-post system, while the remaining are through proportional representation.
According to the latest Election Commission tally, RSP has won 79 seats and leading in 43 other constituencies in the FPTP seats. In terms of raw numbers, a simple majority in the HoR requires 138 seats, while a two-thirds majority stands at 184 seats.
Under Nepal’s constitutional framework, a simple majority in the 275 member House of Representatives requires 138 seats, while a two thirds majority would require 184 seats.
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