With less than two days to go for the presidential election, Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha on Saturday appealed to all MLAs and MPs to vote according to their conscience and reiterated that it is a contest between two ideologies.

In a video message on his Twitter handle, Sinha reached out to all lawmakers, saying the Constitution provides that the vote will be secret and there will be no party whip which means that they can individually determine who they want to vote for.

"The election to the post of president of India this time is taking place under extraordinary circumstances. The country is facing multiple problems on various fronts but the most important problem that we are facing is the problem of safeguarding and protecting our Constitution," he said.

The constitutional provisions and its values are being openly violated by certain people in this country, elected governments are being brought down, all this is against the spirit of democracy which is enshrined in the Constitution, he said in the video shot on the Rajpath here.

"So therefore this year's election to the post of the president actually is a contest not between two individuals, it is a contest between two ideologies. On the one hand, we have those who have no use for the values of the Constitution, on the other hand, we have the dedicated band of those who want to protect the Constitution and its values," Sinha said.

"I, therefore, appeal to you to exercise your vote in terms of the Constitution, according to your conscience. The Constitution provides that the vote will be secret but there will be no party whip which means that you have to determine for who you want to vote for," he said in his appeal to the MLAs and MPs.

He urged those voting to listen to their "inner voice", look at the various problems in the country and shower their blessings on him in this election.

Meanwhile, the national president of Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi, Prakash Ambedkar, requested Sinha to withdraw from the Presidential race because many Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe members from across the parties are planning to vote in favour of NDA presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu.

Sinha, a bureaucrat-turned-politician, had held important portfolios such as Minister for External Affairs and Finance in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

The electoral college which elects the president through the system of proportional representation comprises elected MPs and members of state legislative assemblies. Nominated MPS, MLAs and members of legislative councils are not entitled to vote in this election.

Voting in the presidential poll is held in Parliament House and state assemblies. Counting is held in Parliament House. This time, the election is on July 18 and the counting is on July 21.

Sinha is facing an uphill contest as his rival NDA nominee Murmu's vote share in the poll is likely to reach nearly the two-third mark.