Election Fever Grips Nepal as National Assembly Nominations Close

The political corridors of Nepal have shifted into high gear as the nomination process for the January 25, 2026, National Assembly elections officially concluded this week. While often viewed as a procedural formality, this year’s “Upper House” polls carry significant weight, serving as a strategic precursor to the high-stakes House of Representatives elections scheduled for later this year.

The Numbers and the Field

The Election Commission of Nepal (ECN) confirmed that 44 candidates from seven major political parties filed their nominations across the seven provincial capitals. The elections will fill 19 vacant seats in the 59-member National Assembly:

• 18 seats are to be filled through an electoral college.

  1 seat will be filled via Presidential nomination on the government’s recommendation.

The electoral college consists of 2,043 voters, including 545 Provincial Assembly members (with a weighted vote of 53) and 1,498 local government heads/deputies (weighted at 19).

Strategic Alliances and “Formalized” Victories

In a move that has effectively turned the election into a “formality” in several clusters, the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML have solidified a dominant seat-sharing deal.

• The Power Couple: After failed tripartite talks with the newly unified Nepali Communist Party (NCP), the Congress and UML decided to split the seats—contesting nine and eight seats respectively.

• Madhesh Diplomacy: In a strategic gesture, the alliance allocated one seat in the Madhesh Province to veteran leader Mahantha Thakur, chair of the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (LSP-N). At 82, Thakur’s transition to the Upper House is seen as a move to preserve senior political legacy amidst a changing guard in the Lower House.

• Unopposed Win: Highlighting the alliance’s dominance, Sunil Bahadur Thapa (NC) has already become unopposed in Koshi Province, as no other candidate filed against him in his cluster.

The Fallout: Leftist Fragmentation

The run-up to the nominations was marred by the collapse of negotiations between the NC-UML alliance and the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) (the newly merged front involving former Maoist and Unified Socialist leaders).

“The NCP demanded four seats to manage its internal factional balance, but the NC-UML alliance refused to budge from a three-seat offer. This led the NCP to pull out of the alliance and field its own candidates independently across several provinces.”

This fragmentation suggests that while the NC-UML alliance is likely to sweep most seats, the rift with the NCP could lead to more aggressive competition during the general elections later this year.

Why This Matters Now

The National Assembly is designed as a “permanent chamber,” where one-third of members retire every two years. However, the 2026 context is unique:

1. Constitutional Continuity: Following the dissolution of the Lower House in late 2025 during the “Gen Z” protests, the National Assembly remains the only functioning legislative body until the next general election.

2. Credit Check: For the NC and UML, this election is a test of their joint “vote weight” and their ability to keep the newly unified communist forces and “alternative” parties (like the RSP) at bay.

3. Policy Stability: A two-thirds majority for the NC-UML alliance in the Upper House would give the eventual government significant leverage over legislation and constitutional appointments.