As if Pakistan needed any more political masala, shocking revelations by former Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha, which are bound to give a new life to PTI’s nationwide protests against alleged rigging, have made uncertainty over recently-held general polls almost palpable. If television tickers are to be believed, Mr Chattha, seemingly being done with the system, decided to submit his resignation letter, admitted to “stabbing the country in its back” and held the chief election commissioner and chief justice responsible for deliberately playing with the mandate of people through manipulation of poll results in his district, which ultimately paved the path towards success for PML(N) candidates. Quite expectedly, a frenzy erupted on social media with political commentators wasting no time in digging personal details and connecting bizarre dots. Whatever the bureaucrat may have done while serving in office has little bearing on the scathing allegations and therefore, anyone interested in putting on a trial against blowing the whistle is, clearly, misguided. What needs to be investigated, that too, on an immediate basis, is the pandora’s box. Real estate angle aside, what led Mr Chattha to believe he could step into the limelight and castigate the entire machinery if he knew that “no commissioner of any division (had been) appointed as a DRO, RO or presiding officer, nor (did) they ever play a direct role in the conduct of elections?” Strongly worded rejections have flown in from all branches of the caretaker setup, the most interesting of which saw the chief justice exclaim, “Tomorrow, someone will accuse me of theft or murder.” The ball is still in the accuser’s court and until he provides evidence to substantiate his claims, there’s literally no use in questioning who did what on whose behest to tarnish the credibility of elections. However, the state and other political parties would have to realise that PTI would not wait for long. In what can clearly be called a manna from heaven, their narrative has found itself a new shot in the arm, which it would use in all available platforms to lay claims on victory. *