Munugode's loss confirms Cong's T'gana diminution

Signs had already lined up of Congress’ steady diminution in Telangana.

New Delhi: But if confirmation was needed of the party’s decline, it came in the loss of the Munugode bypoll, a seat Congress held till August this year, and where it finished a dismal third on Sunday.

While a section of the party’s leaders derived satisfaction from the loss of rebel MLA Komatireddy Rajagopala Reddy, whose defection to BJP had necessitated the bypolls, a section of the party’s leaders acknowledged that Congress had stood little chance when faced with two ruling parties — TRS in Telangana and BJP at the Centre — and their combined money and muscle power.