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Nepal's latest parliamentary elections saw over 65% voter turnout, with new parties like Rastriya Swatantra Party challenging traditional political powers amid Gen Z-led political activism.

Voting in Nepal on Thursday to elect members to the House of Representatives passed off largely peacefully, with voter turnout expected to exceed 65% election officials in Nepal claimed. Long queues were seen at polling stations as citizens cast their franchise in the crucial parliamentary elections to choose a new prime minister, six months after violent Gen Z-led protests toppled the government headed by K. P. Sharma Oli.

The elections are being closely watched by India, which hopes for a stable government in the politically fragile Himalayan nation to take forward the developmental partnership between the two sides.

Newly formed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) led by former rapper Balendra Shah, who was also the mayor of Kathmandu, is posing a tough challenge to two traditional political parties - the Nepali Congress party and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist). There are nearly one million first-time voters in this election, which is only happening because of the Gen Z protesters who rose up in anti-corruption marches and overthrew their government last September.

Locals underlined that overall mood in Nepal is for regime change. Young voters revealed that they've managed to convince the rest of the country that it's time for a new generation of politicians to lead the country over the veteran heavyweights that have dominated politics in Nepal for decades.

In 2015, Nepal introduced what is called a mixed electoral system.

Voters will directly elect 165 members to the House of Representatives, the powerful lower chamber of parliament. The remaining 110 seats in the 275-member House will be filled through a proportional representation system, with political parties nominating lawmakers based on the share of votes each party receives. Nearly 19 million people, including some 800,000 first-time voters, have registered to take part in the election. About 9.66 million voters are men and 9.24 million are women. The voting age is 18 years and number of registered voters has risen by nearly one million since the last parliamentary election in November 2022, as the youth-led uprising led to greater interest in politics.

India has deepened its economic engagement with Nepal over the past decade. It will hope connectivity and economic engagement will continue no matter who comes to power. It will also hope newer parties will understand the limitations of anti-Indian populism that older parties have regularly engaged in.

For China, the election results will be very important. For the past 15 years or so the country has emerged as a primary external partner for Nepal. It has so far engaged particularly with the left parties in Nepal and will be watching their performances closely. If, as some predict, the left parties do not perform as strongly as usual, this will be a test for the adaptability of Chinese foreign policy in South Asia.

The US would prefer if a new government reduces its engagements with China, especially since it has categorically accused China of spreading disinformation about its policies in Nepal. It has also been uncomfortable about the fact that Nepal has aligned itself with China when it comes to policy over Taiwan and Tibet.