Balen, fire and fury

Pitted against Oli, his hallowed aura of invincibility is at the ballot’s altar.

Balendra Shah, popularly known as Balen, wants to beat communists in their own game. In a lyrical tactic, Nepal’s Marxist-Leninists drew the poor’s attention with heartrending songs of poverty and inequality. Artistes like Raamesh Shrestha, JB Tuhure and Jivan Sharma have lived in Nepali hearts for decades for their timeless songs, such as ‘Gai ta bandhyo’, ‘Aama didi bahini ho’ and ‘Simali chhaya ma basi’, to name some of their most iconic numbers.