Nepal votes Thursday in the first elections since deadly youth-led anti-corruption protests toppled the government in September 2025.Key figures contesting for power include a former prime minister seeking a return to power, a rapper-turned-mayor bidding for the youth vote, and the newly elected leader of the Nepali Congress party.Here are three of the most closely watched candidates in the March 5 parliamentary polls — all central figures in an election that analysts say is unlikely to deliver an outright majority for any single party.- Gagan Thapa, 49 -Gagan Thapa presents himself as the face of generational change, arguing that the country can no longer be run by what he calls an “old age” club of revolving veteran leaders.Thapa led an internal revolt in January to be elected as head of the Nepali Congress, the country’s oldest and historically dominant party, which had been the largest member of the ousted coalition government.Born in 1976, Thapa was drawn into politics as a teenager during the 1990 pro-democracy movement against the then absolute monarchy.He rose through student activism, linked to the Nepali Congress, and became a prominent figure in the 2006 mass uprising that forced the king to abdicate.Jailed several times for street protests, he then entered parliament as one of its youngest members. He has since served multiple terms, and been health minister.”I am the right mix of energy and experience — the right mix which can deliver,” Thapa told AFP, pledging governance reform and job creation, while promising to work across party lines.- K.P. Sharma Oli, 74 – Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli is one of Nepal’s most seasoned and polarising political figures.A veteran Marxist leader who has served four times as prime minister, he was ousted in September’s protests at his rule.Leader of the Communist Party of Nepal–Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), Oli has spent nearly six decades in politics.He was drawn into underground communist activism as a teenager and was arrested in 1973 for campaigning against the monarchy. He spent 14 years in prison, including four in solitary confinement.He later rose through party ranks to become prime minister in 2015, returning to office multiple times in Nepal’s turbulent parliamentary landscape.Critics accuse him of an authoritarian streak and intolerance of dissent, while supporters credit him with strong leadership and nationalist resolve, particularly in navigating relations with India and China.Oli denies ordering security forces to fire on protesters during last year’s unrest, in which at least 77 people were killed and crowds torched parliament.Oli told AFP he blames “infiltrators” for the violence.Despite his dramatic fall, he won re-election as party chief in December and is seeking a comeback, framing the vote as a “competition between those who burn the country and those who build it”.- Balendra Shah, 35 – Balendra Shah, widely known as “Balen”, has emerged as a symbol of youth-driven political change, after backing the protests that forced the government from power.Born in Kathmandu in 1990, he was a schoolboy during Nepal’s decade-long Maoist civil war.A former underground hip-hop artist whose songs railed against corruption and inequality, the 35-year-old civil engineer first shot to national prominence through music.He translated that online popularity into a shock political victory in 2022, when he was elected Kathmandu’s first independent mayor.Shah built a reputation as a blunt and often confrontational reformer, launching campaigns against tax evasion, traffic congestion and waste mismanagement.In December, Shah joined the centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), positioning himself for national leadership.He has taken the unusual step of challenging former prime minister Oli in his home constituency, telling AFP that it shows he is “not taking the easy way out”.Advocating a liberal economic system with social justice, including free education and healthcare for the poor, Shah says Gen Z’s core demand is good governance — and insists music will remain part of his identity, even if he becomes prime minister.