There can be no denying that PTI leader and federal minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, Ali Amin Gandapur, was out of his depth when he literally threatened his brother’s opponent in the Dera Ismail Khan mayor’s election with “dire consequences.” His position that since his other brother was minister for local government, should the mayor’s election go to his brother’s opponent the winner wouldn’t be allowed to enter the ministry of local government, depriving him of funds and (development) schemes, was the most blatant form of manipulation and pre-poll rigging that can be imagined. Therefore, the election commission of Pakistan (ECP) has rightly taken note of his “violation of the code of conduct for local body elections.” Yet, at least till the writing of this piece, there’s been complete silence from the ruling party, even though this was hardly the first time the minister in question brought shame and embarrassment to PTI. And the fact that he’s hardly alone in this department goes to show how loose PTI’s mechanism of oversight is when it comes to excesses of party members. Now, who’s to blame if the opposition picks this remark up and paints the whole party in the same colour of manipulators who go to whichever extent possible to rig elections in their favour? The ruling party should take very serious note of such things; not the least because the next general election is not very far and a lot of people feel disenfranchised because of the government’s economic policies. Bad apples like Gandapur, who never think twice before making controversial utterances that often border on the ridiculous, need to be disciplined or removed from the party hierarchy. Shouldn’t he have learned the basic lesson of minding his tongue by now? His past indiscretions on the Kulbushan Yadav scandal, misogynistic vitriol against Maryam Nawaz Sharif and the cake-taking, show-stealing, crowning shot of distributing cash during the AJK election campaign have done enough damage already. The political landscape wouldn’t be nearly as toxic as it is if all party leaders kept their lieutenants in line. Gandapur’s actions are, therefore, also a test for his party’s leadership’s sense of political propriety. *