Kathmandu, June 29 -- The ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has come under criticism from opposition parties and child rights advocates after admitting that it has granted party membership to more than 35,000 children, despite a legal prohibition on enrolling minors.

The issue surfaced during the closed session of the RSP's first general convention on June 23, when the party's former general secretary, Kabindra Burlakoti, presented an organisational report showing that 35,257 members are below the age of 18.

The RSP, however, attributed the figures to a technical error, saying some applicants mistakenly entered birth years in the AD format instead of the BS system used in Nepal, and that any underage memberships would be cancelled f...