Kathmandu, Feb. 16 -- On June 22, 2022, Arzu Rana Deuba, wife of the then prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, made a stunning allegation against Balendra Shah, then mayor of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City.

A couple of months earlier, Shah had upset candidates from established parties, including Deuba's Nepali Congress, to win the election in the country's most populated local unit. Naturally, this hadn't sat well with Deuba.

"If you look at Balen Shah and his social media [presence]...," Arzu Rana Deuba said, addressing a party event in Pokhara. "Routine of Nepal Banda. I don't want to say it openly but [at what price] did he hire Routine of Nepal Banda? Routine of Nepal Banda is such a large outlet and he mobilised it. It's politics an...