The former UP Chief Minister asked her party workers

to ensure a big victory for BSP in the next general elections and make her deliver her Independence Day speech as Prime Minister from the Red Fort. Mayawati said if her party comes to power at the Centre, it would provide reservation in promotions to SC/ST government employees. Opposing the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail, Mayawati said the UPA government should adopt developmental policies which would benefit the general public. She also criticised the direct cash transfer in subsidy schemes saying it would not help the poor. She also demanded stringent punishment to the persons involved in the VVIP helicopter scam. Mayawati called her party cadre to remain alert against forces that might try to corrupt them during the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. "Don't become a saleable commodity," she warned. Alleging that the central government was reluctant to release the full Indu Mills land in Mumbai for Dr B R Ambedkar's memorial, she said if BSP comes to power (at the Centre), the required 100 acres of land would be parted with. Suitable museums and memorials of Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and Dr Ambedkar would be constructed in Maharashtra, she promised. She also said they will construct a memorial of late BSP supremo Kanshiram in Punjab. She also supported creation of Telangana state out of Andhra Pradesh and favoured statehood to Vidarbha. Party stalwarts Satish Mishra and state president Vilas Garud also spoke on the occasion.