Millions of Nepalis are set to vote in crucial parliamentary elections, the first since a violent youth-led uprising toppled the previous government and thrust forward a new generation’s demands for sweeping change in the Himalayan nation.
Authorities have tightened security nationwide ahead of the polls on Thursday. In addition to regular forces, thousands of temporary police officers have been deployed, and army troops — generally confined to barracks — are patrolling streets and guarding polling stations.
The government has declared a three-day public holiday to allow voters to travel to their homes. Schools and other public buildings have been converted into polling centres, where ballots will be cast by residents — from remote Himalayan villages to towns across the southern plains.
More than one million voters have been added to the rolls since the last national election in 2022, according to the Election Commission of Nepal. Many of them are also first-time voters who took to the streets during last year’s protests that ultimately forced former prime minister Khadga Prasad Oli out of power.
Analysts say the youth movement that fueled the uprising is now poised to shape the outcome of the election, as first-time voters demand accountability.
“This election, all the political parties, whether they are old or new, they are more focused on the youth. That is a great shift in our electoral history,” said Bhojraj Pokharel, an independent political analyst and Nepal’s former chief election commissioner.
