VMC Standing Committee clears allotment amid outside protests
The Standing Committee of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) on Friday, October 23, unanimously approved the allotment of a 978-square-metre plot to former India cricketer and Lok Sabha MP Yusuf Pathan, according to municipal sources. The plot, located in Town Planning Scheme 22 (Final Plot 90), is adjacent to the bungalow owned by the Pathan family in the city.
The decision came despite a dharna staged by Congress workers outside the committee hall, who carried placards opposing the transfer. Inside the meeting no questions were recorded, with all 12 members of the Standing Committee — each an elected corporator — belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), sources said.
"The proposal was approved unanimously, with no questions raised during the meeting."
Breakdown of the allotment
The committee approved an application that Mr Pathan first submitted on March 3, 2012, seeking a 99-year lease without auction, documents reviewed for this report show. The allotment divides the 978 sq m as follows:
- 500 sq m to be transferred to Yusuf Pathan as a gift.
- 478 sq m to be sold at a concessional rate — 55% of a previous valuation made by the Valuation Committee of the Vadodara Urban Development Authority (VUDA).
| Item | Area (sq m) | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Gift transfer | 500 | Free transfer |
| Concessional sale | 478 | 55% of earlier VUDA valuation |
| Total plot | 978 | Town Planning Scheme 22, Final Plot 90 |
Administrative and legal background
The allotment revisits a file that has a long municipal and legal chronology. The Gujarat government had earlier rejected Pathan's request in June 2014. After the rejection, the VMC alleged the plot had been fenced and occupied, and served an encroachment notice; the civic body issued that notice two years ago, according to municipal records cited in reporting.
Pathan challenged the 2014 rejection in the Gujarat High Court. A single-judge bench dismissed his petition in August 2025; Pathan had later appealed the order but withdrew the appeal on August 3, municipal legal records indicate. With the Standing Committee's clearance on October 23, the matter now moves to the administrative stage for formal transfer and payment of the concessional price for the 478 sq m portion.
Political implications in Vadodara
The unanimous approval by a committee composed entirely of BJP corporators has political resonance in Vadodara's civic politics. The Indian Express first reported on October 19 that the Gujarat government had decided to allot the plot soon after Mr Pathan, elected from Baharampur on a Trinamool Congress ticket in 2024, broke away from the TMC with a group of 20 MPs and joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), which aligned with the NDA in Parliament.
Councillors from the Congress maintained their opposition at the site, staging the dharna to register dissent with the Municipal Administration's action. The protest underlined concerns raised by opposition members regarding the transparency of the transfer and equity of municipal land allocations.
Urban-planning and precedent concerns
Urban planners and civic-watch groups in Vadodara have in the past urged stricter adherence to normative processes such as public auctions or transparent allotment criteria when municipal land is assigned for private use. Municipal land adjacent to private bungalows and residential areas often attracts public scrutiny because of its scarcity and value.
The Standing Committee's decision will be watched for the administrative steps that follow — issuance of formal conveyance, calculation and collection of the concessional price for the 478 sq m, and any legal or civic challenges that may be filed now that the committee has given its nod. How the VMC implements the transfer and whether it faces fresh legal petitions will determine the longer-term outcome for this contested municipal plot.
