THE GUJARAT government on Wednesday defended its decision to approve allotment of a disputed plot of land to former cricketer Yusuf Pathan, who recently broke away from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and joined hands with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), with government spokesperson and senior minister Jitu Vaghani saying that such an approval could be done “only after following prevailing rules & regulations.”

Vaghani also pointed out that the BJP government in the state has been facilitating allotments or regularising land parcels for the common public as well. He was interacting with mediapersons after the weekly briefing following a state Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel .

The Gujarat government recently passed a resolution giving approval for the allotment of the 978 square-metre (sq m) plot of land to Pathan by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC).…