Praising Rahul Gandhi and slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in equal measure, Raj Thackeray on Wednesday said that the joke now is on those who previously made fun of the Congress president.

Congress seized Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, and just about took Madhya Pradesh from BJP in the recently concluded assembly elections. Thackeray sought to praise Rahul's leadership and perseverance for the results. "Rahul Gandhi was alone in Gujarat, even in Karnataka and now too. Now Pappu has become Param Pujya. Will his leadership be accepted at the national level, you are seeing it," said the chief of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).

Thackeray also flayed BJP and said that their defeats were more due to PM Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah's behaviour than due to anti-incumbency. "It was bound to happen. The way Amit Shah and Modi ji behaved in the past four years. It is all clear to the people of India now, they failed in all fronts and they have nothing to show. So they are playing Ram Mandir card but people are smart enough," he said. "Today, the country does not need a Ram temple, but needs Ram rajya."

According to Thackeray, the results of the assembly elections should serve as a warning for the BJP and its leaders before the crucial Lok Sabha elections next year.