Kiran Shaw’s mom alleges her name deleted from voters’ list without basis

BENGALURU: Yamini Mazumdar, 87, mother of Biocon chairperson and managing director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, has been living in Koramangala for 19 years. She has voted in successive elections, including the assembly polls last year, but her name has been deleted from the voters’ list, allegedly due to lack of scrutiny. As a result, the octogenarian won’t be able to exercise her franchise this time.

Yamini said she was shocked to know her name had been removed from the list. “On what basis has my name been deleted? I have voted in every election right from the age of 21,” she said.

“I am a regular taxpayer. I am an Indian and have the right to vote. Do these people think I am dead? Why should they remove my name?” said an enraged Yamini.

“A staffer employed in the household who lived with me till six years ago has his name in the voters’ list. When he’s not living here, howcome he remains a voter and I don’t,” she asked.

a few days ago, Kiran had tweeted that her mother’s name was missing from the list. “My mother’s voter ID has been deleted on some flimsy excuse that there was a report that she no longer lives at her address. She is so upset I can’t tell you because she has been at the same address for 19 years. So much for ‘verification’,” she tweeted.

Boxes: ‘No one visited her house for verification’

Kiran told TOI the family got to know her mother’s name was missing when they were checking the voters’ list. “I had asked my mother to check her name in list. Her staffer even went to the office concerned only to learn that her name had been deleted. I took it up with the BBMP and chief electoral officer (CEO) and they say, ‘it’s too late’. Who said she doesn’t live there? What kind of verification is this? Nobody visited her house seeking verification. It’s shocking,” Kiran said.

Matter will be investigated: CEO

Sanjiv Kumar, CEO, Karnataka, said the matter will be investigated. “When this issue was brought to the notice of our office, we held an inquiry. It’s wrong to say the name was deleted without reason. It was reported that Yamini Mazumdar lived outside the country for three months and it was also learnt that someone else lives in that house. Only after inquiry and due process was the name deleted. We will investigate the matter again. Someone would have reported that she doesn’t live at the address. That was the BBMP’s feedback,” said Kumar.

But the CEO said her name can’t be re-added to the list as it was finalised on March 26.

Countering the CEO’s statement, Yamini said she hadn’t travelled out of India for the past three years. “I go to my daughter’s house, my office in Koramangala and a nearby hospital if needed. I travelled outside Bengaluru in October 2018 for my granddaughter’s wedding for two days. Otherwise, I’m home all the time. No one came for any enquiry,” she said.