301 voters of same family vote in Assam

Altogether 301 voters of a family, living in the same village with roots traced to the same ancestor who migrated from Nepal, exercised their franchise today in a remote village in Assam's Tezpur parliamentary constituency.

The voters, 175 male and 126 female, exercised their franchise at Phulguri Nepalipam village under Rangapara Assembly constituency but 20 members could not vote as they were outside the village, official sources said.

Altogether 321 voters, descendants of Ahiman Thapa who came and settled in the area from Nepal in 1888, are registered voters of the area.

The voters belong to 118 family units living in the same village which is also home to 94 tea garden families, 28 to minority community, eight Bengali and six Bodo families. Ahiman Thapa was accompanied by his son Dhanmon Thapa and grandson Ron Bahadur Thapa, who went on to become the 'Gaonburah' (village head) in 1988.

Ron Bahadur had five wives with whom he had 21 children — 12 boys and nine girls — and he also brought his nephew to live with him. Thapa family units of the village comprise descendants of sons, daughters and nephew of Ron Bahadur.