Sonitpur, April 15: With nearly 350 voters, the family of the late Ron Bahadur Thapa of Phuloguri Nepali Paam in Assam's Sonitpur district is one of the largest that to exercise their franchise in Assam during the opening phase of polling for the Lok Sabha, on April 19.
The district falls within the ambit of the Rangapara assembly constituency and the Sonitpur parliamentary segment. All memebrs of this family will cast their votes in the Sonitpur Lok Sabha constituency on April 19. Ron Bahadur Thapa is survived by 12 sons and 9 daughters. He had five wives. With a family of nearly 1200 members in total, nearly 350 members are to exercise their voting rights in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
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Ron Bahadur is also survived by more than 150 grandchildren. There are nearly 300 families from the same ancestor living in the Phuloguri Nepali Paam area in the Sonitpur parliamentary constituency. Til Bahadur Thapa, village headman of Nepali Paam village and son of the late Ron Bahadur, told ANI that there are around 350 people in their entire family who are eligible to cast their votes.
"My father came here along with my grandfather in 1964 and settled down in the state. My father had five wives and we have 12 brothers and 9 sisters. He had 56 grandchildren by his sons. I don't know the grandchildren from the daughter's side. In this election, there are nearly 350 members of the Thapa family in Nepali Paam who are eligible to cast their votes. If we count all children, then the total members of our family will be more than 1,200," Til Bahadur Thapa told ANI. He, however, lamented that the family hasn't yet been able to avail the benefits of the welfare schemes of the state and the central governments.
"Our children received higher education but did not get any government jobs. A few members of our family went to Bengaluru and found private jobs. Some are working as daily wage labourers. I have been working as a village pradhan since 1989. I have 8 sons and 3 daughters," Til Bahadur said. He added that his father raised 12 sons and 9 daughters. Sarki Bahadur Thapa, another son of the late Ron Bahadur, told ANI that there are around 1200 members in the family.
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"We have a big family of which there are around 350 members, who are eligible to cast their votes," Sarki Bahadur Thapa said. According to the family members, Ron Bahadur died in 1997, leaving behind his big, fat family. Sarki Bahadur Thapa, now 64, has three wives and 12 children.
There are in excess of16.25 lakh voters in the Sonitpur Lok Sabha seat, which is made up of 9 assembly segments. Elections to the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam will take place in three phases--on April 19, April 26 and May 7.