Gola takes the crown as Delhi’s fattest-dog election ends on a high note

Delhi’s most unusual election has found its winner, with late Gola, also known as Kebab or Rajpal Singh from Hauz Khas, crowned the city’s fattest dog after thousands of people cast their votes online and at physical polling booths, turning a playful contest into a citywide celebration of community dogs.

The “Fat Dogs of Delhi” contest began with 64 dogs from across the city, with supporters gradually turning their neighbourhood favourites into four-legged candidates through Instagram campaigns, posters, memes, reels and repeated appeals for votes. The contest’s grand finale was held on Wednesday.

Gola (75 kgs), a much-loved community dog from SDA Market in Hauz Khas, faced Googoo of Saket in the final. Gola had continued competing posthumously after her death during the contest, while Googoo entered the final after a closely fought semi-final against Tara.

According to the contest organiser, Gola won the final by 39,904 votes, securing the title after a campaign that had seen supporters rally behind her through the successive rounds.

The final voting was conducted both online and offline, giving Delhiites a chance to participate beyond social media.

Physical polling booths were set up at cafes in different parts of Delhi, including Vasant Vihar, Kamla Nagar and Punjabi Bagh, where voters wrote their choice on ballots and had their fingers marked after voting.

The polling booths drew people across age groups, with youngsters turning up alongside elderly residents. Some supporters also arrived with campaign material for their favourite dogs, adding to the election-like atmosphere around the contest.

What began as a fun celebration of chubby neighbourhood dogs eventually built a following around individual contestants and their localities.

Supporters campaigned passionately for their favourites, while animal-welfare groups and volunteers also found an opportunity to draw attention to community dogs.

The organiser said the campaign’s reach would also be used to support animal welfare, including donations towards shelters, food, beds and collars.

With Gola now crowned champion, the unusual election has ended with a simple message from its organisers — sometimes, all a city needs to come together is a chonky dog and something worth rooting for.