New Delhi, Sep 12 (IANS): The Congress on Monday hit back at the CPI-M for questioning the duration of Rahul Gandhi's stay in Kerala and Uttar Pradesh during his 'Bharat jodo yatra'.

Taking a dig at the Gandhi scion, the CPI-M had ridiculed his prolonged yatra in Kerala and only a few days in UP.

As per the schedule, the former Congress president will be in the LDF-ruled Kerala till September 30.

Along with Rahul's caricature, the CPI-M had tweeted: "Bharat Jodo or seat jodo, 18 days in Kerala and 2 days in UP... strange ways to fight the BJP-RSS."

In a retort, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said: "Do your homework better on how and why yatra was planned the way it is. And silly criticism from a party that is the team of BJP in the land of MunduModi."

Notably, Rahul Gandhi is in Kerala where the Congress plans to cover a big stretch. Both LDF and UDF have been on loggerheads in the state with UDF led by Congress losing the election for the second time in a row, while at the national level, the two share a warm bonhomie with the Congress aligning with the Left in the West Bengal elections.

Jairam Ramesh said that though Rahul Gandhi is in the lead, but the yatra is the party's programme and all are participants.

On BJP criticising Rahul for meeting controversial Tamil pastor George Ponnaiah, he said that his party does not subscribe to the latter's views but RSS is a rumor spreading society and the party.

"We don't want to stoop to the levels of BJP leaders. They are afraid. They can't talk about the real issues that Bharat Jodo Yatra raises among the people. No wonder they talk about T-shirts, underwear, containers," he added.

He said BJP was not used to aggressive response from Congress but now if they indulge in mischief they will get a befitting response.

The Congress yatra has got a good response in the last five days with widespread media coverage, he said thanking the media for the spotlight.

After covering Kerala, the rally will enter Karnataka on October 1.