It started with photos of overweight dogs. Now, Delhi is voting for its favourite - The Indian Express

Googoo lifted its left hind leg onto a single brick step, heaving its 46-kg body up to a blue bowl of water. The dog slipped each time. On the seventh attempt, Googoo finally made it, panting slightly.

For the last two weeks, the mixed-breed brown dog, marked by white patches around its head, has been at Jeevashram Foundation, an animal-care NGO in Delhi’s Rajokri, to lose weight. Its meals are now regulated: 250 grams of daliya for breakfast, three chappatis in milk for lunch, and a few grams of chicken at 4 pm.

But outside the NGO, its size landed it in a very different race. Googoo is competing in an “online election” to find the “fattest dog of Delhi”.

And it has a campaign to match: Supporters made posters, created social media pages and asked strangers to vote for it.

Soon, the contest was no longer confined to Delhi-NCR. People in Kerala and Kolkata, too, began picking favourites and drumming up support for them.

From 64 contenders, four dogs made it to the semi-finals: Googoo from Saket J Block, Tara Khan aka Khan Saheb at Khan Market, Hero at Malviya Nagar and Gola aka Kebab aka Rajpal Singh at SDA Market in Hauz Khaz.

Tara and Gola have since passed away, but their supporters have kept them in the running.

The idea grew from an Instagram page started by a final-year Delhi University journalism student after she moved to Delhi. She began posting pictures of overweight dogs she spotted around the city.

“My friends started sharing them, and soon people were sending pictures of dogs along with their names and locations,” she said.

Two weeks ago, she started the election, taking inspiration from “oomf offs” on X — informal contests where users would put 64 mutual followers up against one another and ask others to vote.

“Once I had enough reach, I thought about doing the same with dogs,” she said.

She wants to remain anonymous until the results. “I did not realise it would grow so big.”

On Sunday, Googoo was stretched out at Jeevashram, tongue lolling as it waited for treats.

“Poore din khaana dete raho usko, khaate rahega ye (Keep giving it food all day, it’ll keep eating),” said Jagat Singh (51) who looks after the dog, petting its head to make it sit straight.

After lunch, Singh rubbed Googoo’s body, shaking it from side to side. “Arey khada toh ho le yaar (Come on, at least stand up, buddy),” he said, lifting the dog.

“We keep doing medical check-ups,” Singh added.

Kabir Wadhawaran, who entered Googoo in the competition, first saw the canine in a local park in 2021. “It was less than half this size. Googoo is a worthy competitor for the elections now, it’ll win 100%,” said the 19-year-old.

Online, Googoo has built a sizeable following. Supporters call it the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time), their favourite candidate, a champion and a king.

Nineteen km away, at Gulmohar Commercial Complex in Yusuf Sarai, South Delhi, another contender was attracting votes in his own way.

Rambabu, also known as Chonky, began the day with a breakfast of biryani, fed by a local caregiver, said security guard Kamlesh, who has seen it for the last five years.

It took the dog a few seconds to get up and a few more to walk. “It was not this heavy until two years ago,” said Kamlesh. “It started gaining weight after sterlisation… people also love to feed it.”

Rambabu’s pictures have spread across the internet — sometimes under a bank’s boards, sometimes with its whole body spread across the floor.

Shatakshi Singh, 30, entered Rambabu in the election. She first met the dog in February last year, after moving to Delhi for work. “My workplace is right beside the complex. Rambabu has been there every day beside HDFC Bank, wagging its tail when I call its name,” she said, calling it a gentle giant.

The contest, meanwhile, had gone beyond people simply voting for their favourites.

“Now people are even sending treats from other cities,” said the DU student. “Kutteshwar Singh (a contestant), for instance, received treats from Bengaluru.”

For Shatakshi, the appeal was harder to explain. “These are strange times we live in. I guess it kind of provided some respite from the general atmosphere of hopelessness, poor governance, just bleak times,” she said.

Kabir, who had initially posted about Googoo simply to show his family, said the joy was in seeing what happened next. “It’s just nice to see all the people supporting him.”

Come Tuesday, Delhi will have a winner. Googoo and Rambabu will still be where they have always been — at the centre of their neighbourhoods, with a lot more attention.