For several weeks after 41 people were killed in a stampede at actor-politician Vijay’s rally in Karur last September, the Tamil Nadu government appeared to tread cautiously. Vijay was not named in the FIR, no arrests were made among his top aides, and the M K Stalin-led government avoided steps that could be seen as political payback. According to senior leaders in Vijay’s party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), backchannel messages were conveyed assuring him that the state police would not pursue action against him.
That phase of restraint has now given way to an unexpected turn. It is the Central Bureau of Investigation — the very agency Vijay had sought — that has summoned him to New Delhi on January 12 as part of its probe into the Karur tragedy. What was intended, on the advice of campaign strategist Aadhav Arjun, as a way to move the investigation out of the state police’s ambit has instead brought Vijay under the scrutiny of a central agency, raising concerns within TVK about exposure to pressure from the BJP-led Centre. The timing has compounded the unease, with Vijay’s upcoming filmJana Nayaganstuck before the Censor Board amid an ongoing legal battle in the Madras High Court.
The CBI stepped in after the Supreme Court, on October 13, handed the case to the central agency, calling the stampede a tragedy that had “shaken the national conscience”. The court said a state police probe could erode public trust, especially since senior officers had publicly defended their conduct.
Since then, the CBI has examined over 200 individuals, including families of the victims, ambulance staff, district officials, police officers and TVK organisers. Senior party leaders have been questioned twice — first in Karur and later in Delhi — for long hours on permissions for the rally, crowd control measures, security planning and the party’s internal command structure.
Until now, one key figure had not been questioned: Vijay himself. That changed this week. Multiple TVK leaders said the summons underlined how the party’s post-stampede strategy had gone awry. According to two senior functionaries involved in discussions after the incident, Vijay was personally assured that neither he nor his core leadership would be booked by the state police. Those assurances, however, failed to allay concerns within his inner circle.
“It wasn’t pressure, it was fear,” said a senior TVK leader. “There were mixed views, and Vijay didn’t fully trust the message conveyed by the DMK government’s emissaries.”
Party leaders said those fears were reinforced by Aadhav Arjun — the son-in-law of businessman Santiago Martin and TVK’s general secretary for election campaign management — who warned of an impending crackdown by the Stalin government and urged Vijay to demand a CBI probe as a safeguard. That calculation, they now admit, has backfired.
Arjun is now believed to have advised Vijay to skip the CBI appearance and seek questioning in Chennai instead. Senior leaders, however, worry that such a move could worsen matters. “Ignoring a CBI summons isn’t the same as pushing back against the state police,” one leader said.
A close associate of Vijay, who had helped reach out to leaders across party lines after the stampede, described the summons as the result of misplaced mistrust. “He underestimated what a CBI investigation entails. The state government told him he wouldn’t be harassed, but he didn’t believe it. Now he’s dealing directly with Delhi,” the associate said.
The associate pointed to past cases of regional leaders who found themselves cornered after CBI cases were filed against them. “Once you enter that ecosystem, getting out isn’t easy,” he said, citing examples of politicians who later found their political options narrowing.
The timing, he added, could not have been worse. “The DMK wasn’t provoking him. Pushing for a CBI probe at that moment was unnecessary. Vijay fell for an exaggerated fear narrative,” he said.
Publicly, the DMK has refrained from directly targeting Vijay. Privately, however, party leaders have criticised him for focusing his attacks on the DMK while avoiding confrontation with the BJP and RSS. In the BJP, recent defections from the AIADMK to TVK have also caused some unease.
On whether Vijay is being nudged towards the NDA ahead of the Assembly elections, a senior TVK leader said the party faces a stark choice. “Either confront the BJP and stand alone, or align with them under the pretext of fighting the DMK. The second path would completely undermine Vijay’s political positioning.”
CBI officials said Vijay will be questioned primarily on evidence already collected — including rally permissions, safety arrangements, coordination with district authorities and the party’s decision-making chain. Investigators are also analysing digital records related to crowd management and emergency response. Without Vijay’s statement, officials said, the investigation cannot be concluded.
