Overview
- Official campaigning is underway in Jhapa-5, where former prime minister KP Sharma Oli and Balendra Shah are competing for the same parliamentary seat.
- Oli projects confidence about returning to power from his longtime stronghold and has intensified door-to-door outreach unusual for his past campaigns.
- Shah, a 35-year-old former Kathmandu mayor and leading figure in the Rastriya Swatantra Party, pitches a youth-driven alternative backed by strong social media support.
- Analysts say defeat in this constituency would likely end either contender’s bid to become prime minister in the post-uprising realignment.
- The district on India’s border has about 163,000 registered voters, and its mixed urban–rural electorate is seen as a test of public trust after September’s deadly protests that killed around 77 people.