The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India, seeking legal action against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over a tweet in which he asked people of Bihar to vote for the Grand Alliance in the Assembly polls, ANI reported.

The BJP alleged that Gandhi violated the Model Code of Conduct. “Rahul Gandhi has made a statement on Twitter asking for votes for the first phase of elections today [Wednesday],” the party said in a letter addressed to Bihar’s chief electoral officer. “The time for making the appeal for the first phase of polls was over 28 hours earlier.”

BJP added: “However, even then on the Twitter post, an appeal has been made by Rahul Gandhi in utter violation of the Model Code of Conduct, warranting action against him.”

Gandhi took to Twitter on Wednesday morning to send a message to the voters in Bihar. “For justice, employment, farmers and labourers, your vote should go the Mahagathbandhan [the Grand Alliance],” he said. “My best wishes to everyone for the first phase of voting in Bihar.”

The Grand Alliance comprises of the Congress, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist).

The Rashtriya Janata Dal will contest the Assembly elections from 144 seats, the Congress 70 and the Left parties will together contest from 29 seats. There are 243 seats in the Bihar Assembly.

The Janata Dal (United) and the BJP, meanwhile, had announced an almost 50:50 seat-sharing agreement earlier this month.

The three-phase election in Bihar began with 71 of the state’s 243 seats voting on Wednesday. More than two crore voters will decide the fate of 1,066 candidates in the first phase. The next two phases will be held on November 3 and November 7. The results will be announced on November 10.

This is the first election to take place in the country amid the coronavirus crisis.

Follow live updates on Bihar Assembly elections.