In a major embarrassment for the recently formed "Mahagathbandhan" government, the JD(U) on Thursday ended up conceding the Kurhani assembly seat to the BJP with which the party's supremo Nitish Kumar snapped ties four months ago.

JD(U) candidate Manoj Singh Kushwaha polled 73,008 votes, while BJP's Kedar Prasad Gupta got 76,653 to wrest the seat from the ruling "Mahagathbandhan" which prides itself as a symbol of what smaller, but united parties could achieve in the face of the saffron party's near hegemony.