CBI summons, stalled film: Why Vijay may have walked into a trap of his own making

For weeks after 41 people lost their lives in a deadly stampede at actor-politician Vijay’s rally in Karur in September, the Tamil Nadu government appeared to choose restraint. The Tamil superstar was not named in the FIR, his senior aides were not arrested, and the M K Stalin government held back from making moves that could be read as political retaliation. Behind the scenes, according to senior figures within Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), emissaries assured Vijay that the state police would not trouble him.

However, it is the CBI that has summoned the actor-politician to New Delhi on January 12 in connection with its investigation into the Karur stampede, an inquiry that quite ironically he himself had sought. What began as an attempt, driven by his campaign strategist Aadhav Arjun, to place the probe beyond the reach of the state police has instead placed Vijay before the central agency and in the orbit of the BJP-led Centre’s influence, TVK insiders fear. This comes at a bad time for Vijay since his much-anticipated movie Jana Nayagan remains stalled before the Censor Board amid a legal battle in the Madras High Court.

The CBI took over the investigation after the Supreme Court, on October 13, ordered it to probe the tragedy, saying it had “shaken the national conscience.” The court said entrusting the investigation to the state police, whose senior officials had publicly defended their actions, risked “undermining public confidence”.

The CBI has since questioned more than 200 people, including victims’ families, ambulance drivers, district officials, police officers, and TVK organisers. Senior functionaries of Vijay’s parties were summoned twice, once in Karur and later to Delhi, where they were questioned for nearly nine hours on permissions sought, crowd management, security arrangements, and the party’s chain of command.

Only one figure remained absent from the process: Vijay himself. That changed this week. Multiple TVK sources said the summons illustrates that Vijay’s post-stampede strategy has backfired. According to two senior party figures involved in negotiations after the tragedy, Vijay was personally informed that neither he nor his senior leadership would be booked by the state police. But those assurances failed to calm his inner circle.

“It was fear, not pressure,” said a senior TVK leader. “There were conflicting opinions. Vijay didn’t trust the message from the DMK government’s emissary.”

Several TVK leaders said Aadhav Arjuna, the son-in-law of “lottery king” Santiago Martin and the party’s general secretary for election campaign management, amplified those fears, warning of an imminent crackdown by the Stalin government and pushed Vijay to demand a CBI probe as a protective shield. But that plan has boomeranged.

Arjuna is learnt to have now advised Vijay to ignore the summons and skip appearing before the CBI. “He is asking the leader to demand questioning in Chennai. This will only deepen the trouble. Ignoring a CBI summons is not the same as sparring with state police,” said a senior leader.

A close friend of Vijay, who was involved in reaching out to leaders across parties after the stampede, described the summons as a political trap Vijay walked into because he did not trust the DMK. “He underestimated what a CBI inquiry really means. The Tamil Nadu government told him he wouldn’t be troubled. But he didn’t trust that and now he’s dealing with Delhi,” said the person close to the superstar.

He drew parallels with other regional leaders who joined CBI investigations only to find exit routes narrowing. “Look at Anbumani Ramadoss, who was booked by the CBI in 2013-14. Look at T T V Dhinakaran, whom the CBI booked in 2016-17. Both are still unable to come out of the NDA alliance. Look at Jaganmohan Reddy. Once you’re in this system, you don’t walk out easily.”

The timing, the friend said, was fraught with dangers for Vijay. “Arjuna should not have pressed him when the DMK wasn’t in a provocative mode. Vijay should not have fallen into the irrational fear sold by Arjuna,” he said.

While the DMK has been careful about not publicly targeting Vijay, behind the scenes, its leaders have criticised the TVK leader for training his guns on their party and avoiding ruffling the feathers of the BJP and the RSS. In the BJP, however, several defections from the AIADMK to the TVK in recent weeks appear to have unsettled leaders.

Asked if there was pressure on Vijay to join the NDA alliance before the Assembly polls, a senior TVK leader said the fledgling party had two options. “Confront the BJP directly and stand alone. Or align with them in the name of a common enemy: DMK. The second option will destroy Vijay’s political claims.”

According to CBI officials, Vijay will be questioned mainly about the material already gathered: the permissions obtained for the Karur rally, safety protocols, coordination with district authorities, and the TVK’s decision-making hierarchy. Investigators are also scrutinising digital evidence and communications related to crowd control and emergency response. The probe cannot be completed without Vijay’s statement, agency officials said.

Another concern for the actor-politician is that Jana Nayagan, set to release on January 9, has not yet received a final censor certificate. The Madras High Court on Wednesday took up a petition by the film’s producers challenging the Central Board of Film Certification’s decision to refer the movie to a revising committee.

The producers say the examining committee has already recommended a U/A 16+ certificate, subject to modifications that were carried out. The sudden referral, they say, is based on anonymous complaints alleging harm to religious sentiments and portrayal of the Armed Forces, complaints whose authors and specifics remain undisclosed.

Senior counsel for the producers warned the court that entertaining such vague objections would “set a dangerous precedent” and open the door to motivated obstruction of film releases. The coincidence has not gone unnoticed in Vijay’s circle: a CBI investigation on one side and a stalled censor clearance on the other.

For now, Vijay’s party says it will decide its response to the summons after consulting legal advisers. The CBI is also moving methodically under the watch of a three-member monitoring committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ajay Rastogi.

For now, Vijay remains squarely before the country’s most powerful investigative agency. “He was told it was meant to protect him. Instead, it has brought the door to Delhi wide open,” said a TVK leader. Whether Vijay chooses to walk through that door or challenge it may define this crucial phase of his political career.