Varanasi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that 'Garibi Hatao' (remove poverty) had sadly remained a mere slogan for the past many decades and that efforts for a turnaround in the lives of the poor had failed to bear fruit.

"Chunav ke dauran gareebi ki maala japte rehna ek aam baat hai (it is normal to speak of poverty during poll campaigning)," he said while addressing a gathering of rickshaw pullers in his Varanasi parliamentary constituency.