Balen won big. Now, what kind of power will he be?

Shah stands between two logics. Both can win elections. Only one can settle a state.

The scale of the Rastriya Swatantra Party’s victory in the 2026 elections has answered one question in Nepali politics and opened a much harder one. Public anger has indeed turned into a decisive verdict. The electorate has punished an entire political generation and, through it, a whole way of governing. But that only sharpens the central question now facing Nepal: what does Balen do with such a sweeping victory?