Nepal votes on Thursday for a new parliament in a high-stakes showdown between an entrenched old guard and a powerful youth movement, six months after deadly anti-corruption protests toppled the government.

Key figures contesting for power include the Marxist former prime minister seeking a return to office, a rapper-turned-mayor bidding for the youth vote, and the newly elected leader of the powerful Nepali Congress party.

“Nepalis have been waiting for change for so long, from one system to another,” said Nilanta Shakya, 60, a retired engineer, who was among the first to vote at a college in the capital, Kathmandu.

“I hope there is a meaningful change this time,” she added.

Nearly 19 million voters are choosing who replaces the interim government in place since the September 2025 uprising, in which at least 77 people were killed, and parliament and scores of government buildings were torched.

Youth-led protests under a loose Gen Z banner began as a demonstration against a brief social media ban, but were fed by wider grievances at corruption and a woeful economy.

Sushila Karki, the interim prime minister, urged a “peaceful election”, saying the vote was critical in “determining our future”.

The polls, which close at 5pm (4:15pm PKT), are one of the most hotly contested elections in the Himalayan republic of 30 million people since the end of a civil war in 2006.

Thousands of soldiers and police have been deployed at polling centres.

The election has seen a wave of younger candidates promising to tackle Nepal’s woeful economy, challenging veteran politicians who have dominated for decades and argue that their experience guarantees stability and security.

“Today feels like a day of celebration,” said Nirmala Bhandari, 50, a housewife, who danced in the street with friends for a video for social media, after casting her vote in Bhaktapur district, outside the capital.

“I am hopeful that the country will get new leaders and that we will build a better nation.”

‘Blood will bring change’

Helicopters have flown voter materials to snowbound mountain regions across Nepal, home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks, including Mount Everest.

But all eyes will be focused on the hot farming plains south of the capital, where all three prime ministerial hopefuls are contesting seats — a departure from past elections that focused on the capital.

KP Sharma Oli, the 74-year-old Marxist leader ousted as prime minister last year and seeking a return to power, is being challenged in the usually sleepy eastern town of Jhapa by former Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah, a 35-year-old rapper-turned-politician.

The Jhapa-5 constituency, with around 163,000 voters, will determine whether Oli secures his seat or whether Shah enters parliament.

Shah, from the centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), who queued to vote in Kathmandu dressed in a black suit and sunglasses, has cast himself as a symbol of youth-driven political change.

Also in the race as aspiring prime minister is Gagan Thapa, 49, the new head of the country’s oldest party, Nepali Congress, has said he wants to end the “old age” club of revolving veteran leaders.

After casting his vote, Thapa told AFP that it is “the duty of the leaders” to not let events of September 2025 occur again.

On social media, voters shared images of their ink-marked thumbs — alongside photographs of the September protests.

“At the Gen Z protest, people died — and their blood will bring change, we hope,” said Tek Bahadur Aale, 66, who voted in Jhapa.

“We hope a government with good governance, no corruption, comes this time.”

More than 3,400 candidates are running for 165 seats in direct elections to the 275-member House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, with 110 more chosen via party lists.

Analysts say the vote is unlikely to deliver an outright majority for any party.

Some early winners are expected to published by Friday, but full results including those under the proportional representation system — crucial if a coalition government has to be formed — may take several days.