To fight public apathy towards elections, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has roped in cricketer Virat Kohli to encourage people, especially the youth, to come forward and cast their vote.

According to senior officials, posters of Virat Kohli asking people to "Teeka lagao matdaan ka" will soon be put across the city to create awareness among people. He will be heard on various radio stations and seen on television channels, asking the youth to channelise their energy by participating in elections.

Officials said that while there are seven lakh people in the age group of 18-19, only two lakh have a voter identification card.

"People in this age group constitute four per cent of the total voters in the city and they are the most reluctant to apply for voter identification cards. We want to encourage more and more youngsters to come forward and exercise their right. At the national level also, sportspersons such as MC Mary Kom have been roped in to spread awareness about elections. For Delhi, we wanted to have a local face and Virat Kohli agreed," said Vijay Dev, chief electoral officer, Delhi.

Delhi Assembly elections are all set to take place in October this year. The chief electoral officer has taken several steps to ensure young people get themselves registered. It has come up with a special mobile application through which smart phone users can register their names in the electoral rolls too while on the move. So far, two lakh youngsters in the age group of 18-19 have enrolled themselves.