Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswami Plans Trust Vote At - Where Else - Golden Bay Resort

For the better part of this month, the Golden Bay Resort has served as the stomping ground of the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, entertaining a pair of would-be Chief Ministers and about 120 of their legislators, who roam the sprawling compound in shorts, T-shirts and flip-flops.

It was here that VK Sasikala received the news on Tuesday that she had been sentenced by the Supreme Court to four years in jail for corruption, a verdict that poured cold water on her plans to be Chief Minister. It was here that she plotted the new line-up of the AIADMK leadership, choosing E Palaniswami as her proxy for head of the government, and nephew TTV Dinakaran as the party's deputy chief, before heading out to face her future as Prisoner No 9234 at a cell she shares with two other women in Bengaluru. It was from here that Mr Palaniswami drove last evening to take oath as Tamil Nadu's 13th Chief Minister, and he returned immediately to the hotel after his oath to strategise for the trust vote he must take tomorrow. He will spend some time here today, following up.

On February 7, the AIADMK legislators were bused and taken to Golden Bay resort

Golden Bay Resort's website makes the much vaunted claim of  "Paradise on Earth." This morning, logging on proved impossible, owing "to the site owner reaching his bandwidth limit." Located 80 kms from Chennai, a little removed from the highway to the beachside temple town of Mahabalipuram, the hotel on Tuesday last week witnessed the arrival of bus-loads of AIADMK legislators.

They have yet to depart.

Their stay has been expressly conceived to prevent any ambulatory tendencies that would see them crossing over to O Panneerselvam, who challenged Ms Sasikala to insist that he should remain Chief Minister. The fact that Golden Bay is surrounded by water on three sides and has only one gate made the sequestering easier.

In December, J Jayalalithaa, the matriarch of the AIADMK, died and a party reared on unquestioning allegiance to one central leader transferred its fixation to her live-in aide, Ms Sasikala.  Though Mr Panneerselvam was appointed Chief Minister, owing to earlier stints when he had filled in for Ms Jayalaithaa, the party earlier this month decided it was time for Ms Sasikala to run both the party and the government. When Mr Panneersselvam atypically disobeyed, the party spun towards a split. Ms Sasikala then had her supporters - more than a hundred of them - moved into Golden Bay.

The owner of the hotel, which includes a tree-lined lake, refuses to comment on its new status on the party circuit.   

The legislators will leave Golden Bay tomorrow to back Mr Palaniswami in his trust vote - he has about six more legislators than he needs to win.

While the many secrets of the AIADMK now reside within the hotel, commoners who witnessed the political drama are sharing creative reviews (names withheld):    

"Had an awesome experience during my stay here during the political crisis. No one knew who paid our bills. All day we used to booze and had all sorts of fun here. Would recommend this resorts for other states as well."

"Great resort for MLAs. Wonderful place to relax when political drama is going on. Nice swimming pool, and good security to keep away irritating commoners. One star deducted for not having a massage parlor."