Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), which has launched 'Mission 2084', is aggressively expanding its membership.
As of Wednesday, more than 1 hundred and 50 thousand have applied for membership. Deputy General Secretary Kabindra Burlakoti, who is also the head of the organization department of the party, informed that the concentration of membership is higher in urban than in rural areas.
According to him, 63 thousand have applied online while 85 thousand have already filled out the handwritten applications. Their membership is yet to be approved.
Burlakoti said that 32,000 who had applied and been accepted have already renewed their membership for five years.
However, he says that the process of submitting membership applications has slowed. The leaders say that now not more than 200 people are applying for the RSP membership on a daily basis, whereas 5,000 people filled out the forms daily some time ago.
RSP, which was formed on June 22, 2022, won 20 seats in the general elections. When Rabi Lamichhane, chairman of RSP, was the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister (December 26- January 26), the number of people filling out membership increased around April 23 by-elections.
"The flow of filling out forms daily has now decreased," Burlakoti told Nepalkhabar.
Not only those who are dissatisfied with Nepali Congress, CPN (UML), CPN (Maoist Center), and other parties but new and neutral youths are also attracted to RSP.
However, he says that the number of RSP members in the village is very small. RSP has created a mobile app for membership.
"It is true that there are fewer applications from villages than from cities. Online-based applications require a smartphone and a photo," Burlakoti added. It is not possible to fill out the application without the internet, there is a problem with the internet in the village.
In terms of numbers, more applications have been received from the urban areas of Bagmati, Gandaki, and Koshi provinces. Bagmati is also at the forefront. Burlakoti, the head of the organization department, said that the lowest was seen in Karnali.
"The ratio is the same in Madhesh and Sudurpashchim, but we are far behind in Karnali," he said, "Because there is no urban area in it."
General Secretary Dhakal also claimed that the attraction of RSP in the city is increasing.
"The graph that is increasing in the urban area seems to be decreasing as it goes towards the village," said Dr. Dhakal said, "East, West, North and South, the more we go to the rural areas, the less it is. Since there is no technology in the village, many people have not been able to connect, something needs to be arranged there. Secondly, we have not made the app accessible to everyone."
He said that during the party activities of RSP, the number of memberships increased when Chairman Rabi went somewhere, but at other times it was less.
Applications are filled out by young to retired employees
One year after the formation of the party, RSP held a central committee (CC) meeting. The applications received from all over the country will be classified and submitted to the meeting.
General Secretary Dhakal said that while analyzing the applications received so far, the number of young people is greater. There are more people in the age group of 25 to 35 who are studying and employed.
"Most of the applicants are young people, followed by retired employees," Dhakal added, "Retired people have joined the party after taking government and private jobs. Apart from that, people living abroad have also filled out the membership. There are more Nepalis working in Gulf countries than in Europe.
This is how the application is accepted
RSP has adopted a policy of making everyone who fills out the online application a member. RSP has taken a campaign to make everyone a member of the country and has adopted a policy of accepting without any restrictions.
"After applying for membership through the app, it should be verified, everyone who fills out the form will be accepted," said Dhakal, "but, they should declare that they are not convicted or involved in any criminal activities."
There is a provision in RSP to investigate and even suspend a member if there is a complaint lodged. There is a four-member disciplinary committee for that.
The committee headed by Bharat Mani Devkota has Ramakanta Rimal, Ramhari Subedi, and Yagyamani Neupane as members.
If a member commits wrongdoing, a complaint is filed against him/her in line with the law. This committee will investigate and if the wrongdoing is confirmed, it can recommend to the party for expulsion/suspension.
RSP is making preparations to form a disciplinary committee even at the district level.
"When over 1,500 people join the party in a single day, they are from different walks of life, you don't know their background. Some may be bad while others might be driven by personal advantage," Dr. Dhakal said, "To avoid this, we have created a mechanism, which will investigate, and make recommendations, accordingly."
