The next legislative assembly polls might be a few years away, but Delhi is already in election mode. Instead of picking political leaders to represent their constituency, Delhiites are now deciding which dog should be crowned the city’s most chonkiest canine. What started as a social media gag by the Instagram page, ‘Fat Dogs of Delhi,’ has turned into a full-blown election campaign with social media users canvassing for their favourite and chonkiest dogs.
The competition was announced earlier this week, and social media users were urged to submit photographs of the dogs along with their name and locality. “Fatdogsofdelhi is proud to announce the world’s first online fat dog competition! No awards unless someone wants to sponsor that,” read the contest announcement. A post shared by open for submissions (@fatdogsofdelhi) Some of the contestants in the fray are Kutta Singh from Rohini, Bhondu ki Barfi from Lajpat Nagar, and Chonkers from Kamala Nagar, among others. Currently, Gola aka Kelab aka Rajpal Singh from SDA market, Hauz Khas is leading the pack. Supporters have put up campaign posters, formed loyal fan camps, and even hurled accusations of paid PR to boost their favourites. The contest has even drawn attention from brands, with delivery app Blinkit publicly backing Kutta Singh on social media, promising free treats for the winner.
Inspired by Alaska’s annual Fat Bear Week, the capital’s contest puts 64 of the city’s fluffiest, mass-cultivating dogs into a knockout-style Instagram voting tournament. The format runs across six knockout rounds between September 24 and 29: the first round began on September 24, followed by the round of 32 on September 25, the round of 16 on September 26, quarter-finals on September 27, semi-finals on September 28, and the grand finale on September 29. Polls open via Instagram Stories daily between 2 pm and 3 pm IST and stay live for 24 hours, with two dogs pitted against each other each time.
