No one below 18 has been granted RSP membership: Acharya

KATHMANDU: The ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has insisted that no one below the age of 18 has been granted party membership.

Although the party earlier reported that over 35,000 of its members are under 18, it has now refuted such claims.

After the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) also drew attention to the issue, RSP General Secretary Bipin Kumar Acharya issued a press statement on Wednesday, stating that the party does not have a policy of enrolling children under 18 as members.

Acharya said the data mentioned in the organizational report presented at the party’s first general convention referred to the number of people who had applied for membership, not those who had actually been granted membership.

“The Political Parties Act, 2016, under Section 14(2)(a), requires a person to be 18 years of age. Similarly, Article 13(a) of the RSP Statute states that only Nepali citizens who have completed 18 years of age can become party members,” Acharya said in the statement. “Therefore, granting party membership to children below 18 years, or involving them in political activities as party members, is neither the policy nor the practice of the RSP, nor is it an institutional objective,” the statement added.

The RSP said it was found that some children under 18 had submitted applications because anyone could apply for membership. However, the party claimed that such applications were only initial requests and should not be considered approved memberships.

“Although anyone can apply for membership through the app or website, such an initial application does not automatically mean membership has been approved,” the statement said.