The Wet ’’ Wild resort

Gurgaon, April 6: The luxury resort that played a part in toppling a government in Jharkhand last year could be essaying the same role in another coup hundreds of miles away.

More than 20 legislators from Arunachal Pradesh are holed up at Wet ’’ Wild, the resort located at Naurangpur, off the Delhi-Jaipur highway. Eleven of them are ministers in the Gegong Apang government.

The group has switched allegiance from Apang to power minister Dorjee Khandu — at least for now — and is staying here at his “invitation”.

Khandu is in Arunachal Pradesh, trying to unseat a man who has engineered quite a few political coups himself.

The band of merry men, one of them in Buddhist robes, was spotted today having a breakfast of toast, eggs and cereal by the swimming pool. A source whispered that the MLAs were waiting for a call from Khandu.

Tawang legislator T.G. Rinpoche, dressed in a monk’s brown and saffron robes, kept to himself, while colleague C.C. Singpho chatted with another of the dissidents.

“We are from beautiful Arunachal Pradesh, which you must visit once,” Singpho said before hastily retreating to his room.

“They are Chinese,” a steward at the resort’s in-house restaurant said, alluding to the legislators from Arunachal Pradesh.

The “Chinese guests”, a resort employee said, stay in their rooms for the better part of the day but their evenings are lively. “They were dancing last night, spending Rs 40 lakh of public money,” said Kito Sora, one of those still loyal to Apang.

Sora claimed that the chief minister had written to his Haryana counterpart B.S. Hooda “not to allow his state to be used for such activity”.

But the dissident legislators need not worry. The owner of the resort knows Hooda personally.

“It is due to assured privacy that people come to us,” R.P. Sehgal, the owner of the resort, told The Telegraph.

Easily accessible from Gurgaon, the resort promises what conspiring politicians seek — luxury, utmost secrecy and a security system that keeps unwelcome visitors at bay. Those manning the front desk are trained to identify anybody who might inconvenience a guest with their presence.

Sehgal admitted the resort was popular with politicians, but denied having ever met any politician from Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh.

Legislators from Jharkhand had trooped into Wet ’’ Wild in preparation for a similar coup in September last year. The legislators, in vests and lungis, were seen having a good time in and outside the pool even as the masterminds gnawed at the base of the then Arjun Munda-led government.

Madhu Koda replaced Munda soon after and the Wet ’’ Wild management may well have taken pride in witnessing the prelude to the transition from up close.

A few more Arunachal rebel MLAs are holed up in a hotel in New Delhi, sources said.