Lok Sabha elections 2024: Meet SWEETEY, the dragonfly, Wayanad’s election mascot

The Wayanad district administration officially declared its Lok Sabha election mascot a rare dragonfly having the acronym lsquoSWEETEYrsquo which stands for Spreading Wayanadrsquos Election Enthusiasm Through Epithemis Wayanandensis on Monday The district collector Dr Renu Raj who is also the district electoral officer inaugurated the official mascot as a symbol of democratic fervor in the form of SWEETY the name coined by SVEEP WayanadAccording to district administration officials ldquoSWEETEY carries the vital message of widespread participation and awareness of voting rights within the community The initiative titled lsquoSpreading Wayanadrsquos Election Enthusiasm Through Epithemis Wayanadensisrsquo aims to harness the presence of EpithemisThe new species of dragonfly was discovered accidentally by a naturalistldquoWayanadensis is a recently discovered dragonfly species in the Wayanad biosphere reserve To galvanise civic engagement under the banner of SVEEP Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participations a series of awareness programs have been deployed including the comprehensive campaign lsquoUrappanu Ente Votersquo I assure of my vote or be sure of my vote or rest assured of my vote targeting new votersrdquo said the officialldquoFurthermore competitions have been organised among students and the general public to foster a culture of electoral literacy spearheaded by SVEEP and the electoral literacy club Nehru Yuvak Kendra Concerted efforts are underway to empower citizens to exercise their voting rights SWEETEY the mascot is poised to play a pivotal role in these campaigns in the days to comerdquo the official saidOfficial symbolThe mascot has become the official brand ambassador for all the electionrelated posters and communication and the same is being widely accepted by even the State Election posters were distributed encouraging tribals and people residing across the district about the election date and about the new mascot which is the first of its kind to be introduced this electionSWEETEY posters being displayed by the tribalsldquoIt is the best way to showcase the biodiversity of Wayanad and to also highlight the different forms of species that are seen within the wilds of Wayanad and everything that needs to be done to guard Wayanad and its natural habitatsrdquo said Jose a residentMan behind the dragonflyDavid Raju 39 General Manager of CGH Earth Wayanad Wild expressed his enthusiasm for the initiative to include this newly discovered dragonfly as the mascot to represent the environmental causes of the Wayanad region stating ldquo Wersquore grateful to Dr Renu Raj and her team for conceptualising this Mascots of nature play a crucial role in raising awareness about biodiversity conservation and its intersection with electoral processes SWEETY symbolises the unique biodiversity of Wayanad and highlights the need for sustainable development practices within electoral discourserdquo Discovery of the dragonflyWhen asked about the flashback David recalled stating ldquoIn October 2022 at Pookode Lake in Wayanad a naturalist from CGH Earth Wayanad Wild stumbled upon a peculiar dragonfly Initially identified as a RubyTailed Hawklet Epithemis Mariae this dragonfly is a seasonal species that is visible only for a month or two after the monsoon period in small swampsThe naturalist team of Wayanad led by David Raju investigated further to realise that there were distinct differences in morphology and genetic makeup Collaborating further with dragonfly researcher Vivek Chandran they found that thoracic markings colouration anal appendages and genitalia were all different from the RubyTailed Hawklet To confirm without any doubt a collaborative effort was launched to ascertain the morphological and DNA analysisrdquo explained DavidThe DNA analysis revealed a significant 12 per cent difference in a studied gene between the newly discovered species and the known RubyTailed Hawklet