For decades, the small Himalayan nation ensconced between China and India has been riven by political instability, with 32 changes in government since 1990, leaving its largely ​agrarian economy hamstrung and forcing millions to seek work abroad.

Nearly 19 million of Nepal’s 30 million ​people are eligible to vote to pick a 275-member legislature, of which 165 candidates ⁠are directly elected and 110 selected via proportional representation.

About one million of these voters - most of them youth - ​were added after last year’s protests, which have amplified calls for overhauling Nepal’s political system and reforming the economy ​to create formal jobs with better wages.

Bibas Pariyar, a 22-year-old painter employed in Kathmandu, said he plans to return to his home district of Gorkha - famed for soldiers who have served in the British and Indian militaries - on Thursday to vote.

“We need new ​people who can give work to people, reform agriculture and pay adequate remuneration for workers,” Pariyar said.

“The old ​politicians only amassed money for themselves through corruption and did nothing for the people.”

Old guard vs new frontrunner

In the race are ‌the ⁠old guard, including the centrist Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist or UML), which have dominated national politics for decades.

But most analysts say the centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) is at the forefront. Rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah, 35, joined the three-year-old party in January as its prime ministerial candidate.

A former mayor of the capital city ​Kathmandu who emerged as the ​face of the September protests, ⁠Shah is going head-to-head against the UML’s KP Sharma Oli, 74, a four-time premier who quit following the September killings of the demonstrators.

Nepal’s election will be the second in ​the region - following Bangladesh - to be triggered by Gen Z-led protests, but the ​dynamics are markedly ⁠different, said Jay Nishaant, founder of the Nepal Democracy Foundation think tank.

“For any election, three things decide the outcome: agenda, leadership and organisation,” Nishaant said.

“That’s where Nepal may diverge from Bangladesh.

Bangladesh’s July 2024 student leaders had a ⁠clear agenda ​and recognisable faces, but not a time-tested grassroots machine.“

In Bangladesh’s ​February general election, the main youth-driven party won only six seats in the 300-member parliament, underlining the challenge of turning street momentum into ​votes.