The Standing Committee of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) on Friday (October 23) unanimously approved the allotment of a 978-square-metre plot of land to Yusuf Pathan, over which it had served the former India cricketer an encroachment notice two years ago.

Congress leaders staged a dharna outside the Standing Committee hall, carrying placards opposing the allotment. But no questions were asked inside.

All 12 members of the Standing Committee are elected corporators from the BJP. The Congress, which has only six corporators out of the total 69 in the VMC, has no representation in the Standing Committee.

The proposal was “approved unanimously, with no questions raised during the meeting”, sources said.

The Indian Express first reported on October 19 that Gujarat’s BJP government had decided to allot the plot to Pathan two months after he rebelled against Mamata Banerjee and broke away from her Trinamool Congress (TMC) along with 19 other West Bengal MPs.

Pathan, who won the Baharampur Lok Sabha…