Kathmandu/IBNS, March 5 -- Around 18 percent of voters cast their ballots by noon on Thursday as Nepal held its first national elections since the Gen Z-led protests toppled the government of former Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli last year, media reports said.

Out of Nepal's 30 million population, nearly 19 million people are eligible to vote in the polls.

The 275-member legislature will see 165 members elected directly, while the remaining 110 seats will be filled through proportional representation.

Major political forces contesting the elections include Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) led by K. P. Sharma Oli, the Nepali Congress headed by Sher Bahadur Deuba, and Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) led by Pu...