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 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.
The resolution reached the VMC on August 29, and Pathan withdrew his appeal before the Gujarat high court two days later.
Of the total area, 500 square metres will be transferred to him as a gift for residential use, while the remaining 478 square metres will be given at a concessional rate of 55 % of the valuation fixed by the Vadodara Urban Development Authority (VUDA) Valuation Committee.
The plot is located at Town Planning Scheme 22, Final Plot 90, in Vadodara’s Tandalja area, next to Pathan’s family bungalow, Bagh-e-Mehmud. Its current estimated market value is around ₹20.5 crore.
The Standing Committee’s approval is a key step in the process. Earlier in 2026, the committee had valued the plot for a possible public auction, but that proposal was withdrawn after the General Board raised questions about the pending dispute.
The allotment is being considered under the Urban/Area Development Authorities (Disposal of Land and Other Properties) Regulations, 2002.
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. The resolution specifies that the partial gift should not be treated as a precedent.
A 14-year fight
Pathan first sought the land in 2012, more than 14 years ago, when he had applied for a 99-year lease, citing security concerns. The VMC approved a proposal to allot the plot at ₹57,270 per square metre, but the state government rejected it in June 2014 because the land had not been offered through a public auction.
After the 2014 rejection, the civic body alleged that Pathan had fenced and occupied the plot. Pathan continued to occupy the land and built a boundary wall. In June 2024, the VMC ordered him to remove the encroachment, prompting him to approach the Gujarat high court.
Pathan won the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from West Bengal’s Behrampore on a Trinamool Congress (TMC) ticket.
In August 2025, the high court dismissed his petition challenging the VMC’s order to remove the encroachment, holding that he had no legal right over the plot because no final allotment order had been issued and no payment had been made.
Pathan appealed against the order in 2026. 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.
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). This followed the TMC’s defeat in the West Bengal assembly elections.
On August 31, Pathan withdrew his appeal after his lawyer told the court that the VMC had not responded to efforts to pursue the claim under the policy. The division bench dismissed the appeal as withdrawn.
Congress protests
Congress leaders staged a dharna outside the Standing Committee hall before the meeting on Friday, opposing the allotment. The Standing Committee consists entirely of 12 BJP corporators; the Congress has only six corporators in the 69-member VMC and no representation on the committee.
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.
The government’s resolution provides that the revenue department shall allot land of equivalent value to the VMC to compensate for the transfer of the plot to Pathan.
In a representation to the Standing Committee chairperson, Congress councillor Chandrakant Shrivastav questioned the legality, transparency and financial implications of the allotment.
He questioned the proposal to compensate the VMC with replacement land and demanded recovery of occupation charges for the past 14 years, alleging that the plot had been occupied without proper authorisation. Citing former India cricketers Kiran More, Nayan Mongia, Atul Bedade and Anshuman Gaekwad, as well as Hardik Pandya, he asked why similar benefits had not been extended to other players.
A separate proposal has also been submitted to the VMC seeking land for India women’s cricketer Radha Yadav to develop an outdoor cricket practice facility in Vadodara. The proposal envisages developing the facility at the applicant’s expense, with rent paid to the civic body.