NC-UML alliance sweeps all 18 contested NA seats, NC emerges largest party

The Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML alliance have secured all 18 National Assembly seats that will fall vacant on March 4, 2026, reinforcing their dominance in the upper chamber of the federal parliament.

According to the final tally, the NC secured nine seats and the UML eight, while the Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal (JSP-N) won one seat in Madhesh with the backing of allied parties.

The elections, held on January 25, were conducted through an indirect electoral college comprising provincial assembly members and local-level mayors, chairpersons and their deputies. The polls were constitutionally mandated to be completed at least 35 days before the outgoing members’ six-year terms expire.

The outcome largely reflected pre-poll seat-sharing arrangements between the NC and UML, which entered the race with a coordinated strategy aimed at maximising returns from the weighted voting system. That approach left little room for smaller parties, particularly in provinces where the two parties jointly command a numerical advantage in the provincial assembly as well as at the local governments.

Who are the victorious candidates?

Although Mahantha Thakur is now a patron of JSP-N following the merger of the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party Nepal with it, the merger has yet to receive legal recognition. As a result, he contested on his former party’s ticket, with backing from the NC, UML and JSP-N for the ‘other’ category seat in Madhesh.

With the new members set to take oath after March 4, the result further tilts the National Assembly in favour of the NC, making it the largest party in the permanent house of parliament with 25 seats. The Nepali Communist Party will slide to the second position with its seats dropping from 24 to 17 after two of its members resigned before their term expires. UML will now hold nine seats.

The result leaves Congress and UML firmly in control of the upper house, with the two parties holding above the simple majority of the chamber.

The election also ensured constitutional representation quotas, with seats filled across women, Dalit, and minority or persons with disabilities categories in all provinces.

Meanwhile, one additional National Assembly seat will be filled separately through presidential nomination on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers.

The upper house can play a critical role, particularly when the House of Representatives faces disruption or dissolution. It alone may exercise all the legislative functions of the federal parliament in the absence of the lower house.

A simple majority in the upper house requires 51% to pass ordinary legislation, while a special majority requires two-thirds.