On Thursday, NCP president Sharad Pawar showered praise on Maharashtra Navnirman Sena founder Raj Thackeray, saying that he had emerged as an icon for the younger generation. A day later, his nephew, irrigation minister Ajit Pawar, declared that the NCP was not allergic to the MNS. Stunned and shocked by the Pawars’ words, a senior Congress leader surmised that the NCP, evidently rattled by the pre-poll survey on the outcome of the assembly polls, was drafting a plan to rope in the MNS.