Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said that the United Progressive Alliance government will come back to power after the next general elections as the Manmohan Singh [Images] regime has not only lifted the country's economic growth rate, but made the process pro-poor as well.

When asked whether the UPA government will also meet the same fate that the Chandrababu Naidu [Images] government faced in Andhra Pradesh even after his pro-reforms policies, Chidambaram told reporters in Delhi, "No. I think people are wiser, people are smarter than you and I think. I am quite sure that the people, when it comes to recording their approval or disapproval, will certainly record their approval to what has been done by the UPA government in the last three-and-a-half years and what will be done in the remaining years."

He said the people know that this government has not only lifted India's growth rate to the second highest in the world, it has also taken enormous initiatives to make the growth process pro-poor.

The finance minister added that the people understand even if they are not getting any immediate benefit of growth, "the biggest anti-ote to poverty is growth. In the long run, it is the growth that will lift this country."

He said people are well aware of the difference between the roles that the Centre and state governments can play.

Pointing out that virtually all programmes of the Centre are implemented by the states, Chidambaram said the people know who is responsible if programmes like National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme and Mid-day Meal Scheme did not meet the kind of success it should have had in certain parts of the country.