What is happening? Delhi is having a major dog election.
Sorry, what? Sixty-four street dogs are competing to be crowned Delhi’s fattest dog in a competition run by the Instagram account Fat Dogs of Delhi. The voting is happening through Instagram, because this is obviously how democracy works now.
And who thought this was a good idea? The person behind Fat Dogs of Delhi, an anonymous Delhi University Journalism student, who says the competition came about after people started sending in photos of neighbourhood dogs.
How big has it become? Very. The page now has around 85.6K followers, which is a fairly substantial electorate.
Is this inspired by Fat Bear Week? Sort of. The format is similar to Alaska’s annual Fat Bear Week, but the creator has said she didn’t know about it when she came up with the competition.
And people are actually voting? With alarming levels of commitment.
How committed are we talking? Campaign posters. Fan camps. Vote appeals on X. People promoting dogs from their neighbourhoods. There have even been accusations of paid PR.
How do you vote exactly? Through Instagram Stories. Each round opens in the afternoon and stays live for 24 hours, with two dogs facing off at a time. The tournament began on September 24, with the finale scheduled for tomorrow.
Do the dogs know they’re candidates? Probably not. Their humans certainly do.
Who were the candidates? Kutta Singh and Cylinder from Rohini, Moti from Sarojini Nagar, Gajinder from Vasant Kunj, Sunshine from Lady Shree Ram, Berry from Miranda House, Chonku from Kamla Nagar, Chaand from Moolchand, and Mahakutteshwar from Noida, among others.
Wait, so some of the dogs have brand endorsements? Essentially. Kutta Singh (a Rohini-based heavyweight and fan favourite) had Blinkit publicly rooting for her, while Cwosant had Bistro by Blinkit in his corner.
Vote chori? North campus diva Dahi Bhalli seems to have lost, and her supporters are not taking it well.
What happened to Rajpal Singh and Tara? Rajpal Singh, also known as Gola and Kebab, and Tara were both frontrunners in the competition, with supporters rallying behind them in their respective rounds. Both have since passed away, turning what had been a very silly internet election into something considerably more sombre.
So how do you celebrate them without forgetting that? By remembering that the joke is about our collective fascination with these unusually chunky neighbourhood celebrities, not about suggesting that obesity is desirable for animals. They are real dogs first, internet personalities second.
What happens to the proceeds? Now we get to the slightly less straightforward part. Following Rajpal and Tara’s passing, Fat Dogs of Delhi has said it plans to raise funds and donate the proceeds to animal-welfare causes in their memory. The exact mechanism for collecting the money and how the proceeds will be raised, however, is still unclear.
What does the winner actually get? The glory of being crowned Delhi’s fattest dog.
And what happens to the losers? They remain fat dogs of Delhi. Frankly, they’ve already won.
Why are people so invested in this? Because the stakes are nonexistent, the candidates are extremely cute, and everyone could use an election where the worst possible outcome is that a very good dog loses an Instagram poll.
So, who should I vote for? That sounds dangerously close to asking us to endorse a political candidate. Study the candidates carefully, consult the fan bases and, above all, consider the important issues like...who is the fattest of them all?
