The Karnataka Police has summoned Bharatiya Janata Party chief JP Nadda and information technology head Amit Malviya in connection with an “objectionable” BJP campaign video targeting Muslims, reported NDTV.

The summons were issued under the Code of Criminal Procedure on Monday and directed Nadda and Malviya to appear before the police within seven days.

“Once they [Nadda and Malviya] come and give a statement or justify their statement, we will see what steps needs to be taken,” Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara said, according to India Today.

On Sunday, the police had registered a first information report at Bengaluru’s High Grounds Police Station against Nadda, Malviya and the party’s Karnataka unit chief BY Vijayendra after the Congress lodged a complaint against the animated video that was uploaded to the BJP’s Karnataka social media handles on May 4.

The video showed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi feeding “funds” to a bird, shown wearing a skullcap, as it hatches out of the “Muslim” egg. The video shows the “Muslim” bird pushing away the fledglings that hatch from the other three eggs, followed by the sound of laughter.

The video was uploaded to the saffron party’s social media handles just days before polling for 14 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka on Tuesday.

The Congress’ complaint said that the account to which the video was uploaded is operated by Malviya and that the video was shared on the instructions of Nadda and Vijayendra.

The three BJP leaders have been booked under sections of the Representation of People Act for making statements promoting enmity on religious grounds, under provisions of the Indian Penal Code.

The Congress had also filed a complaint with the Election Commission, saying that the video violates the Model Code of Conduct – a set of guidelines issued by the poll panel for political parties and candidates to follow during poll campaigns.

On Tuesday, the Election Commission told social media platform X to take down a Bharatiya Janata Party campaign video on grounds that it violated the “extant legal framework”.

However, the poll regulator’s notice to X came after campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections in the state had ended and midway through voting for the state’s 28 seats. Voting for 14 seats in Karnataka took place on April 26, while the remaining seats went to the polls on Tuesday.

On Sunday, the Karnataka Police had issued notice to X, asking it to take down the video for violating the Model Code of Conduct.