The immediate task before the Bengal BJP should not be how to stem a possible exodus but to find consensus on the likely impact of the departure of Mukul Roy from the party.

State BJP chief Dilip Ghosh, asked whether an MP from north Bengal and eight MLAs from his party are likely to follow in Roy’s footsteps and join Trinamul, said on Saturday: “These people aren’t animals that I’d tie them up. He (Roy) was in a party. He can get in touch with people whom he had known for a long time. We are sure that those who are original BJP (people) won’t desert us.”

Later, Ghosh tweeted: “A wilted leaf is no use to a tree. If a wilted leaf falls down, there is no damage to a tree. In fact, the tree gets filled with new leaves and gets a new vigour”

But several BJP leaders, most of them Trinamul turncoats, said Roy’s exit would hurt the saffron camp’s prospects in Bengal.

Biswajit Das, a Trinamul turncoat and BJP’s Bagdah MLA, said the party would feel the impact of Roy’s exit.

Das was one of the three MLAs absent from a party’s organisational meeting chaired by Ghosh at Bongaon on Friday. The other two MLAs were Subrata Thakur and Ashok Kirtania. Bongaon’s BJP MP Santanu Thakur also skipped the meeting.

Former Trinamul MLA of Noapara and BJP leader, Sunil Singh, said while the exit of any worker was a loss for the party, it would be bigger when someone like Roy leaves.

Former Trinamul minister and BJP’s losing Domjur candidate Rajib Banerjee met Trinamul leader Kunal Ghosh on Saturday evening in what was described as a courtesy call.