Medicos stage a pro-Anna march in Patna on Thursday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Aug. 18: Rain poured water on procession plans against the arrest of social activist Anna Hazare today, but the slogans turned a tad smarter.

Unable to come out in the open amid the downpour from midnight, the spirited supporters of a stronger Lokpal Bill sharpened their jingles to fight corruption. Sitting inside tents at Kargil Chowk, they stitched strange words together to be innovative.

Some of them were picked up straight from the TV. A few were catchy jingles. Some protesters went down memory lane and linked old commercials with Anna.

The age-old Zandu Chyawanprash catchline made a comeback in the state capital with a little change: “75 saal ke buzurg, ya 75 saal ke jawan (a senior citizen of 75 years or a 75-year-old youth? ”

A member of the protest group coining the jingle said: “The slogans should be good to read as well as catchy. With an aged man taking Delhi by storm, this slogan perhaps suits him the best.”

The junior doctors of Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) marched to Kargil Chowk in the afternoon screaming, “Bharat ka har vayakti hai Anna, Brastachariyon ke mumkin nahi hai bachna (Every Indian is Anna…).”

A board belonging to a group stationed at Kargil Chowk read, “Hum bhi Anna, tum bhi Anna, Poora desh Anna Anna (… all of us Anna).”

Inspired by the catchline “I am Anna”, the agitators tweaked it a bit to give it a new look.

But the favourite of all slogans was “Jan Lokpal lana hai. Brastachar door bhagana hai (Jan Lokpal has to be introduced, corruption has to be driven away)”. It found its place with the three groups seen at Kargil Chowk today amid rain.

“Most of the other groups might have backed out because of the rain since last night,” said a member of Rashtriya Pragati Party.

A group of people belonging to the shopkeepers’ association of the Mauryalok Complex took out a march in support of Anna but were forced to abort at Dakbungalow roundabout owing to the growling clouds.

The city received 25.4mm rainfall in the past 33 hours. The weathermen said the incessant shower could stop on Saturday.

“Light to medium rainfall is expected in the state, especially around central and south Bihar, in the next 24 hours,” said Abdul Sattar, the assistant professor of meteorology, Rajendra Agriculture University, Pusa.

Animesh Chanda, the director of Patna Met Department, said: “There is possibility of rainfall at many places in Bihar in the next 24 hours. A warning of heavy rainfall is in effect in all districts of the state.”