Nepal Next · The parties · राजनीतिक दल
Who holds power —
and who they answer to
Every major party judged as an institution, separately from its personalities: what it believes, who leads it, what its latest convention actually decided, and — for the party in power — the agenda it is now accountable for. Fair to all, cited throughout.
The sitting government
The Balendra Shah cabinet
Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) · formed 27 March 2026 · 15-member cabinet · reshuffled May 2026. Formed after the RSP landslide in the March 2026 general election that followed the September 2025 Gen Z movement. A 15-member cabinet — deliberately lean. Reshuffled May 2026.
Eight confirmed portfolios listed from reporting of the cabinet formation and May reshuffle; PM Shah has at points retained Defence and Home. The full 15-member roster with every portfolio and each minister’s asset declaration is being verified against the official gazette and Election Commission filings.
In power
The governing party
In opposition
The rest of the field
NC · Tree (रूख) · est. 1950
Nepali Congress
नेपाली काँग्रेस
The party that made Nepal a democracy — now facing whether it can survive the generation that rejected it.
Sher Bahadur Deuba / Gagan Thapa (generational contest)
OpenUML · Sun (सूर्य) · est. 1991
CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)
नेकपा (एमाले)
The disciplined communist machine whose strongman was beaten by a movement he never saw coming.
K.P. Sharma Oli
OpenMaoist · Hammer, sickle & other · est. 1994 (as CPN-Maoist)
CPN (Maoist Centre)
नेकपा (माओवादी केन्द्र)
The party that fought a ten-year war, ended it at a table, built the republic — and never finished its justice.
Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda)
OpenRPP · Cow (गाई) · est. 1990
Rastriya Prajatantra Party
राष्ट्रिय प्रजातन्त्र पार्टी
The party that wants the king and the Hindu state back — and rides a real current of nostalgia.
Rajendra Lingden
OpenJSP · Umbrella (छाता) · est. 2020 (Madhes-movement lineage)
Janata Samajwadi Party, Nepal
जनता समाजवादी पार्टी, नेपाल
The voice of the Madhes — the plains that forced federalism onto the constitution, still bargaining for the rest.
Upendra Yadav (and allied Madhes leaders)
OpenSSP · Pending verification · est. 2025
Shram Sanskriti Party
श्रम संस्कृति पार्टी
Street activism turned parliamentary force — the Dharan mayor who carried a labourer’s stick into the House.
Harka Sampang Rai
OpenNCP · Pending verification · est. Pending verification
Nepali Communist Party (NCP)
नेपाली कम्युनिस्ट पार्टी
The fourth-largest party and the main communist opposition of the 2026 parliament — its exact composition still being verified.
Leadership being verified
OpenSeat tallies are marked pending until reconciled against the official Election Commission result. Party profiles are judged on the same fair basis — strengths and risks for every party, in power or out. Sitting officeholders are scored on record, not manifesto, in the leader tracker.