CPN-UML General Secretary Shankar Pokharel has dismissed the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) as a serious contender in Kathmandu and said the upcoming elections will be a direct contest between the two largest parties, the UML and the Nepali Congress.

Speaking during an interaction with journalists on Friday, Pokhrel stated that the Congress, as the country’s oldest party, is the UML’s main competitor.

In total, Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur have 15 electoral constituencies. Three parties—Congress, UML and RSP—are in a tight race followed by the Nepali Communist Party (an amalgam of several leftist groups and parties including the CPN (Maoist Centre), and Ujyalo Nepal.

Pokharel admitted that RSP's influence among voters has grown in rural areas in comparison to urban areas, but claimed that it would still not be sufficient to win elections. He also noted that the RSP may pick up some votes under the proportional representation category.

Regarding the race between UML chief KP Oli and senior RSP leader Balen Shah in Jhapa–5, Pokharel claimed that Oli will win easily.

Pokharel also stated that voters in Jhapa-5 are politically aware, and the party believes they will not be misled by populism and social media.

He even went on to claim that a conspiracy was being hatched [by some parties] to use the Nepali territory against India and China.

“There is a conspiracy to turn Nepal into a battleground against India and China,” said Pokharel, without naming who were behind such a “plot”.

“A puppet government has already been formed to turn Nepal into a playground for geopolitical conflict. And with the aim of continuing this in the future, an election campaign is underway to bring such forces to power and fuel instability.”

He claimed that his party, the CPN-UML, will not allow powerful nations to use Nepal against its two neighbours.

He further claimed that the CPN-UML believes all these plots were orchestrated to drag the country into a serious geopolitical trap by exploiting the emotions of young people, the Gen Z, and hijacking their movement.