As Nepal prepares for an early national election on Thursday (5 March 2026), which was necessitated following the collapse of Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli’s coalition government in the height of deadly anti-government Generation-Z rebellion (led from the front by the students and young people) in September 2025, the people of north-east India expect a peaceful polling and a progressive regime in Kathmandu. The Hindu majority nation of over 30 million people was supposed to go for national polls in 2027 (as it conducted the last general election in 2022), but due to the dissolution of the 275-member House of Representatives by President Ram Chandra Paudel on 12 September, the electoral process began under the patronage of an interim government led by retired apex court judge Sushila Karki.
No less than four former premiers remain in the fray including the deposed premier Oli, who leads Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) to face electoral challenges from Balendra Shah (who recently resigned as Kathmandu metropolitan city mayor and joined Rastriya Swatantra Party) in Jhapa-5 Parliamentary constituency of eastern Nepal. Balendra, an engineer turned rapper turned politician was one of the protagonists in the September 2025 anti- corruption Gen-Z protests and local political observers believe him as a front runner to the post of premiership. Oli, who resigned on 9 September last, claimed that some foreign hands instigated the Nepali people to overthrow his government in Kathmandu. He suspected that the last uprising that resulted in the killing of 77 nationals and damaging of government & private properties was orchestrated by such elements after meticulous planning. On various occasions, he also made anti-India comments and remained critical of New Delhi’s foreign policies towards Nepal, which also borders Tibet (now under China).
Other three former premiers, who are contesting in the Nepal election, include Pushpakamal Dahal (alias Prachanda) and Madhav Kumar Nepal of Nepali Communist Party and Baburam Bhattarai of Pragatisheel Loktantrik Party. Two former premiers namely Sher Bahadur Deuba (Nepali Congress) and Jhala Nath Khanal (NCP) however opted not to contest in the polls. Prachanda, who led the decade-long Maoist movement in Nepal was instrumental in abolishing the Nepal Hindu monarchy in 2008. Nepal’s last king Gyanendra Shah, who lives a common citizen’s life now, continues making public statements criticizing the Nepali political leaders ‘for adopting an increasingly imbalanced foreign policy and conduct’ against national interests. Addressing the nation on National Unity Day, the former monarch slammed the political leadership for bringing the country under persistent crises in the last two decades. He even expressed dissatisfaction and uncertainties over the electoral process and its outcome.
As Nepal shares an open border of 1,751 kilometres with Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim, the socio-political developments taking place in Kathmandu usually impact eastern India in particular and the country in general. Moreover, millions of Nepali nationals continue to work and live inside India, where Assam houses a sizable population of Nepali-speaking citizens. New Delhi had a strained relation with the Oli government as well as other communist-led regimes in Kathmandu, as they used to pursue a closer relation with the Communist China. The Beijing administration has already enhanced its influence in the Himalayan nation heightening the anxiety for New Delhi.
India, responding to the requests from the government and different political parties, handed over nearly 100 pickup vehicles along with other supplies to support Kathmandu’s preparation for the polls. Maintaining the relation, New Delhi decided to support the northern neighbour in its election-related preparations. Indian interests in Nepal vary from hydropower imports to other trades, cross-border connectivity to security measures, as many anti-India (read Pakistan sponsored) elements lately nurtured their ways to the country through Nepal. However, New Delhi’s worry remains with the Chinese investment in Damak industrial park under its Belt and Road Initiative, which is near to the strategically sensitive Siliguri Corridor (popularly referred as the Chicken’s Neck).
For nearly two decades, when Nepal witnessed a number of governments (led mostly by pro-Beijing former Maoists) collapsing at premature timing, the north-east dwellers hope for a stable and progressive regime in Kathmandu securing the Indo-Nepal border areas and also preventing the localities from misusing by anti-Indian criminals.
