KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Polls opened across Nepal on Thursday in the first nationwide election since last year’s violent, youth-led uprising forced the government from power.

Security forces patrolled streets and guarded polling stations across the Himalayan nation of about 30 million people as voters lined up to cast their ballots. Counting of votes will begin later Thursday, with results expected over the weekend.

Voters are directly electing 165 members to the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Parliament. The remaining 110 seats in the 275-member body will be allocated through a proportional representation system, under which political parties nominate lawmakers based on their share of the vote.

The election is widely viewed as a three-way contest, with the National Independent Party, founded in 2022, considered the front-runner.

Its prime ministerial candidate, rapper-turned-politician and former Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah, has posed a strong challenge to the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist), both long dominant in Nepali politics.

Shah was a leading figure in the 2025 uprising that ousted former Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli. Shah’s party drew the largest crowds on the campaign trail, highlighting its growing appeal among younger voters.