Nepal’s newly formed Rastriya Swatantra Party led by Balendra Shah surged ahead in early vote counting in the country’s general elections. The party won three Kathmandu seats and was leading in dozens more. Former PM K P Sharma Oli’s CPN-UML and the Nepali Congress trailed as counting continued after Thursday’s vote.

Kathmandu: The newly formed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), led by former rapper Balendra Shah, was leading in the early counting of votes on Friday in Nepal's first general elections since the violent Gen Z protests led to the downfall of the K P Sharma Oli-led coalition government.

The RSP has won three seats and is leading in another 45 of the 57 constituencies where counting was going on till 10 am, according to party sources.

Ousted premier Oli's CPN (UML) is leading in five seats while the Nepali Congress led by Gagan Thapa is in third position with leads in four seats.

The Nepali Communist Party led by former premier Pushpakamal Dahal "Prachanda" is leading in two seats and pro-monarchist Rastriya Prajantrantra Party is ahead on one seat.