The Election Commission of India marked its first presence at the Republic Day parade Thursday when its tableau rolled down Rajpath depicting a mammoth model of electronic voting machine and banners asking young Indians to vote.

With assembly elections barely a week away in some states, the poll panel used its participation in the parade as a platform to get more people to vote.

The tableau's front portion depicted youth, unbiased to religion, race, caste, community or language, pledging to vote in every election fearlessly.

It also had replicas of Parliament House and election photo ID card.

The poll panel observes Jan 25, the day before the Republic Day, as the National Voter's Day with the objective to maximise enrolment of voters and thereby enhance the quality of Indian democracy.