The Standing Committee of the BJP-ruled Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) on Friday unanimously approved the allotment of a 978-square-metre municipal plot to former Indian cricketer and Lok Sabha MP Yusuf Pathan.
The Standing Committee’s approval is a key step in the process. The resolution specifies that the partial gift should not be treated as a precedent. In June, a division bench gave him four weeks to pursue his claim under the state government’s policy for allotment of land to international sportspersons. The court also warned that delays could increase the damages payable for his continued occupation of the plot. This followed the TMC’s defeat in the West Bengal assembly elections.
The decision comes after the Gujarat government recently approved the allotment through a resolution dated August 13 and months after his switch from Mamata Banerjee’s TMC to the NDA fold. Earlier in 2026, the committee had valued the plot for a possible public auction, but that proposal was withdrawn after the General Board raised questions about the pending dispute. Pathan first sought the land in 2012, more than 14 years ago, when he had applied for a 99-year lease, citing security concerns. Pathan won the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from West Bengal’s Behrampore on a Trinamool Congress (TMC) ticket. Pathan appealed against the order in 2026. The state government’s recent resolution came months after Pathan, along with 19 other TMC MPs, left Mamata Banerjee’s party on June 14, 2026, and joined a little-known Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI). Vadodara city Congress president Rutvij Joshi alleged that the VMC was gifting away land worth around ₹ 15 crore, with 500 square metres being given free of cost to Pathan and the remaining 478 square metres allotted at 55% of its assessed market value.
Because the land had not been offered through a public auction, the VMC approved a proposal to allot the plot at ₹ 57,270 per square metre, but the state government rejected it in June 2014.
VMC Standing Committee chairperson Varsha Vyas told reporters that the proposal has been cleared on the basis of the fresh state government resolution and noted Pathan’s contribution to Indian cricket.
