Kathmandu, March 9 -- Nepal's traditional political parties faced a dramatic collapse as a wave led by rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah, popularly known as Balen, powered the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) towards a historic two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives, a result not seen in the country in nearly seven decades.

The last such sweeping mandate came in the 1959 general elections, when the Nepali Congress won 74 of the total 109 parliamentary seats. The current RSP victory is bigger considering the around 50 percent proportional representation vote the party is amassing this time.

Nepal's federal parliament has a total of 275 seats, combining 165 direct and 110 proportional representation seats. Analysts estimat...