Camels, horses, elephants, bikes and cycles would be part of an anti-drug rally in Bathinda on January 3 as Punjab Cricket Association chairman Amarjit Singh Mehta embarks on new year celebrations in his “individual capacity”. The anti-drug rally is scheduled to start from Bathinda Railway Station – the Railway station has been known for ‘Cancer Express’ train taking patients of fatal disease to Bikaner in Rajasthan for treatment – and as per Mehta would culminate “either at Bathinda sports stadium or my house”. Mehta boasted of holding such events in the past as well. He mentioned he held a “musical show” by noted Punjabi singer Gurdas Maan last year in Bathinda. From January 4 to January 10, a “Shiv Maha Puran katha” would be held as part of the celebrations. The ‘katha’ by 'antar-rashtriya katha pravakta' Bhagwat Bhushan Pandit Pradeep Mishra ji (Sihor wale) would be held in Bathinda sports stadium. “This would be first ever katha in such scale, detailing Shiv Maha Puran in Bathinda,” Mehta told The Indian Express, adding that it was all in “individual capacity with help from known and friends” and that “it is not at all linked to Punjab Cricket Association”. A poster featuring him and “Pandit”, however, does not miss mentioning Mehta as “President Punjab Cricket Association”. Mehta was appointed PCA president in February this year. He has had a past of venturing into hotel business, car dealership and owning liquor vends. “We will be holding an anti-drug rally on January 3. There will be horses, camels, elephants, bikes and cycles. As per the tentative schedule, the rally would start from Bathinda railway station and culminate either at Bathinda sports stadium or my home,” Mehta told The Indian Express, adding that an “akhand path” was also being held in a Gurdwara in Bathinda to mark the martyrdom of “chaar sahibzaade”. "The celebrations are about every religion,” he adds.
