Ahead of state assembly polls in five states –Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur – Facebook has decided to give polling day reminder on the newsfeed of its Indian users.

The reminder will linked to the Election Commission's website where people can find details on their polling booth and other polling day information.

“Our mission is to make the world more open and connected and that includes connecting people with their governments and those who seek to represent them. Conversation is at the heart of a vibrant democracy and Facebook has become the platform for these conversations. We want to encourage civic participation - that's why we've created tools to make it easier for people to participate and have a voice in the process,” said Ankhi Das, director of Public Policy for Facebook in India and South & Central Asia.

Facebook will also give option to its Indian users to share with their friends that they voted by clicking on the “Share You Voted” button. By clicking the button people can highlight their status as a voter to their Facebook friends, without specifying who they voted for.

For political candidates and elected officials of the poll-bound states, Facebook is giving option of sharing a brief (200 characters) description of their position on 20 pre-set issues -- such as budget, education, health, development, or creating a custom set of issues on which they wish to share their views. The new feature allows them to provide short, unfiltered statements about public policy issues that are important to them and their constituents. People can visit these pages to review what the candidates stand for in preparation of the election, says Facebook in an official statement.

Initially, in 2008, Facebook first gave the Election Day reminder (I'm a Voter) in the US to remind people that it was Election Day.