Ink Fades, Influencers Rise in Nepal’s Hybrid Election Campaign

Nepal’s 2026 election campaign is unfolding through a hybrid model that blends traditional grassroots mobilisation with advanced digital strategies, reflecting the country’s high-stakes political climate following the 2025 Gen Z-led uprising and the growing dominance of social media in shaping voter outreach.

In Kathmandu’s Bagbazar, long regarded as the capital of election printing, the usual frenzy of campaign production has given way to an unusual quiet.

Printing presses that once ran at full capacity ahead of elections now report a significant slump in orders. The familiar smell of printing ink has grown faint compared to the buildup seen during the 2022 polls.

Bijay Kumar Karki, a veteran printer with four decades in the business, said the shift has been stark. “In my business of forty years, at the time of election we used to make hand-made banners, but after the ban on it, the technique shifted to using the screen prints,” Karki told ANI.

Why Are Nepal’s 2026 Election Campaign Materials Seeing Reduced Demand?

Anita Chaudhary, a screen printer in Bagbazar, noted the reduced demand for campaign materials.

“In the previous election, the sale was high, but this year they have also decreased. There aren't many orders to prepare for,” Chaudhary said.

Printers say traditional campaign tools such as flags, badges, caps, banners and pamphlets once played a central role in building awareness and political image, but campaigning methods have undergone a drastic transformation.

Candidates are increasingly shifting from door-to-door outreach to digital platforms, running paid promotions across social media to reach wider audiences.

Data from Facebook’s Ad Library shows that between November 25 and February 22, 2026, a total of $16,453 was spent on political, social, or election-related ads from the Bagmati Zone, which includes Kathmandu.

How Is Digital Ad Spending Shaping Nepal’s 2026 Election Campaign?

Koshi Zone ranked second with $5,469 in spending during the same period. According to Meta’s Ad Library, since September 2022, a total of 33,413 ads have been posted on Facebook in Nepal, with cumulative spending of $285,608.

In the last month alone, from January 25 to February 23, 2026, a single account ran 108 advertisements costing $3,424, while around 500 election-focused advertisements were placed through more than 100 accounts and viewed at least one million times.

These advertisements, displayed across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Meta’s Audience Network, typically target users based on age, interests, behaviour, geography and other factors.

Content ranges from party information and speeches to interviews with families of Gen Z martyrs and direct appeals for votes.

The shift toward digital campaigning aligns with ethical guidelines introduced by the Election Commission, Nepal, which limit the size and number of traditional campaign materials.

Why Are Political Parties Increasing Digital Budgets for Nepal’s 2026 Polls?

The commission had partnered with Meta and TikTok during the 2022 local elections to regulate political ads, track spending and ensure content transparency, and similar cooperation is underway this year to curb misinformation, false content and hate speech.

Political parties and candidates have responded by expanding their digital budgets and hiring professionals to manage online campaigns.

“Right after the filing of the candidacy for First-Past-the-Post, demand for social media managers and creative artists who can make electoral campaigns boom. Currently in the market, professional fees for handling social media handles of the candidates start from half-a-million rupees,” a digital platform handler told ANI, requesting privacy.

Experts attribute the transformation to both regulatory encouragement and changing media consumption patterns.

Dr. Rishikesh Dahal, Assistant Professor at the Central Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at Tribhuvan University, said, “It is turning into digital election campaigning by all political parties and candidates. One of the reasons is that the Election Commission, Nepal, prioritises digital campaigning rather than pamphlets and other traditional means. Another aspect is the big impact of digital and social media products, and the consumption pattern is very high.”

How Is Social Media Influencing Voter Outreach in Nepal’s 2026 Election?

“There is a high level of internet penetration all over Nepal, and most of the people use social media and digital platforms rather than traditional media. That is why political parties are trying to reach where the audiences are or where the voters are,” he further added.

During the 2022 local elections, independent candidate Balendra Shah received extensive promotion through social media, including amplification by popular Facebook pages, which resonated strongly with urban youth voters and contributed to his victory in Kathmandu Metropolitan City.

Political parties subsequently formalised their digital outreach, with the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist forming a “Cyber Army” in 2020, later renamed “Cyber Circle” in 2021, and the Nepali Congress launching the Nepali Congress Wide Information Network (NC WIN) to promote the party online.

For the March 5 parliamentary election, the stakes are particularly high in Jhapa-5, a traditional stronghold of former prime minister KP Sharma Oli, where Shah is contesting as a candidate for the Rastriya Swatantra Party.

Parties are making extensive use of digital networks to influence voters, especially after the September 2025 Gen Z protest movement that was mobilised through social media and Discord, eventually leading to the selection of Sushila Karki as interim leader.

How Did the 2025 Protests Shape the Context of Nepal’s 2026 Election?

The republic has been governed by the interim government led by former chief justice Sushila Karki since deadly youth-led anti-corruption protests in September 2025 toppled the previous administration.

Authorities said 77 people were killed during the demonstrations, many of them protesters shot by police, while crowds set fire to several state buildings including parliament, the Supreme Court and the central government secretariat.

The protests were triggered by a ban on social media and fuelled by anger over corruption, unemployment and economic stagnation, issues that now dominate party manifestos.

Nearly 19 million voters, including about 800,000 first-time voters, will take part in the ballot to elect 275 members of Nepal’s House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament.

More than 3,400 candidates are contesting, with over 1,000 under the age of 40. Voting will begin at 07:00 local time and continue until 17:00 local time, although polling stations in some constituencies may remain open later to accommodate voters.

How Does Nepal’s Mixed Electoral System Shape the 2026 Election?

Nepal follows a mixed electoral system introduced in the 2015 constitution, combining First Past The Post and Proportional Representation.

A total of 165 seats will be filled through the FPTP system, while the remaining 110 seats will be allocated through PR to ensure broader inclusion and proportional representation, making coalition governments more likely.

Campaign monitoring has intensified alongside the digital surge. The Election Commission has capped spending for each parliamentary candidate at NPR 2.5 million, including social media advertising, and is using software supported by UNDP and The Asia Foundation to screen electronic and social media content.

Officials say the commission will coordinate with social media companies to remove problematic content, though the code of conduct does not clearly define action if third parties run campaigns in support of candidates.

The code also states that parties or candidates shall not conduct publicity through multiple online handles, web pages, TV scrolling, shopping mall displays, call centres, ATM messages or similar media, while allowing campaign material on one personal or official website.

How Cost-Effective Is Digital Advertising in Nepal’s 2026 Election Campaign?

According to experts, digital advertising remains relatively cost-effective, with Facebook Cost Per Click in Nepal averaging between NPR 5 and NPR 40 and Cost Per Mille ranging from NPR 80 to NPR 500, compared with about $0.64 CPC on Google Ads.

Beyond domestic dynamics, the election carries significant geopolitical implications. India is closely watching developments given its historically outsized influence in Nepal and its strained relationship with KP Sharma Oli, who has pursued closer ties with China.

Beijing is also monitoring the outcome, particularly regarding support for initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative, while the United States has played a role and is seen as more aligned with India’s strategic outlook.

The 15 seats in the Kathmandu Valley are expected to be key indicators of the urban vote trend, while Jhapa-5 has emerged as a critical battleground.

The Election Commission has pledged to release results for the 165 directly elected seats within 24 hours of ballot box collection, though tallying proportional representation votes could take two to three days.

In previous elections, final results took more than two weeks due to difficult mountainous terrain, logistical challenges in transporting ballot boxes, and disputes raised by party representatives at counting centres.

Reflecting on the broader transformation, Karki observed the growing power of visual and digital campaigning.

“Social media is just a medium to reach out and express, and advertise one's own self. It makes people more visible, giving more visual literacy, which would have an impact on people appraising them," he said.

"The election is an event when the people are reached out to and also is the competition of the intellectuality; those who are not well-literate also will vote for them, so through these visual means of campaigning, by any means it is powerful,” he added.

(With inputs from ANI)