Loyalty to Modi Pays Off: Gujarat BJP Government to Allot Costly Public Land to Yusuf Pathan at Huge Discount

Ahmedabad: The BJP government in Gujarat is set to grant public land worth crores of rupees to former Indian cricketer Yusuf Pathan, who left the Trinamool Congress and moved into a political camp supportive of Narendra Modi. The same land on which Pathan was earlier branded an encroacher and served an eviction notice is now being allotted to him as a gift and at a steep discount by the BJP government, following his shift towards supporting the Modi government and the BJP.

The order provides for the allotment of 978 square metres of highly valuable land owned by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation. Of this, 500 square metres will be given to Pathan free of cost, while the remaining 478 square metres will be transferred to him at just 55 per cent of the stipulated market price.

Political Shift and BJP's Return Favour

Pathan entered the Lok Sabha in 2024 as a Trinamool Congress candidate from the Baharampur constituency in West Bengal. He left the party in June and moved to a political camp supportive of the BJP. After the BJP consolidated its influence in Bengal, Pathan joined the NCPI along with 20 MPs who had left the Trinamool Congress. He was also appointed the party's national vice-president.

Within months of declaring his support for Narendra Modi and the BJP leadership, the Gujarat government issued a special order allotting the land on August 13. The order reached the Vadodara Municipal Corporation on August 29. Shortly afterwards, on August 31, Pathan withdrew his appeal against the BJP government in the High Court in connection with the land dispute.

The disputed plot is located in the Tandalja area of Vadodara, adjacent to Pathan's residence. In 2012, Pathan had attempted to acquire the land without an auction, but the Urban Development Department rejected the request in 2014, stating that the property could not be allotted without a public auction.

Later, in 2024, when Pathan was a Trinamool MP, the Vadodara Municipal Corporation issued him an eviction notice, alleging illegal occupation of public land. The case was subsequently taken to the High Court. In June 2026, the Gujarat High Court also strongly questioned the alleged unauthorised occupation.

However, the situation changed completely after Pathan shifted towards a pro-Modi position. The BJP government decided to allot the land to him without any public auction, despite its estimated market value of approximately Rs 20.53 crore, calculated at Rs 2.10 lakh per square metre.

Although the order states that the Revenue Department will provide the municipal corporation with land of equivalent value in exchange, the BJP government has exempted Pathan from any penalty for allegedly occupying public land illegally for years.

The government's decision has triggered a debate over what is being described as clear double standards and political favouritism by the BJP government.