Lucknow: Sensing a mid-term general election, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati today announced a whopping Rs 7,000-crore in financial schemes dedicated to late BSP founder Kanshiram and asked party workers to be ready for the polls.

Addressing a Savdhaan Raho, Aage Badho rally at Ramabai Ambedkar grounds near here, she cautioned the people against being induced by the "media, mafia or money" which political rivals Samajwadi Party, Congress and BJP could use against the BSP.

As the BSP observed Kanshiram's second death anniversary, Mayawati launched projects worth Rs 7,000 crore, including a 500-bed multi-specialty hospital for free treatment and a housing colony aimed at the poor but also tried to placate the upper castes with a salvo hurled at her opponents.

"Our party has never opted for slogans like Tilak, Taraju Aur Talwar; Inko Maaro Jute Chaar (read literally as as bash up the Brahmins, Baniyas and Thakurs or Rajput with shoes)", she said, buoyed by the huge turnout at the rally.

Mayawati asked her party workers to be prepared for Lok Sabha elections, as "the ongoing UPA-Left stand-off and the tussle over the Ram Setu issue could lead to mid-term polls".

She also accused the media of indulging in "character assassination" by reporting that she bought bungalows from money collected from workers and spent huge sums on renovating her official residence and took pot-shots at the SP, by saying its mass base was "shrinking" and its leaders were making "indecent and objectionable comments" about the BSP.