Yashwant Sinha, the opposition's presidential candidate, on Sunday made a final appeal to all political parties to vote for him in tomorrow's election, in which he is pitted against NDA's presidential pick Droupadi Murmu.
Yashwant Sinha in his statement reiterated that the presidential election is not about the two candidates, but it's a contest between two ideologies.
Mr Sinha said he stands for safeguarding India's democracy, while Droupadi Murmu is "supported by those who are mounting daily attacks on democracy."
"I stand for protecting secularism, a preambular pillar of our Constitution. My rival candidate belongs to a party that has made no secret of its resolve to destroy this pillar and establish majoritarian supremacy," the statement said.
"I stand for encouraging politics of consensus and cooperation. My rival candidate is backed by a party that practices politics of conflict and confrontation," it added.
In an apparent reference to the BJP, Mr Sinha said that Ms Murmu, if chosen as the next president of India, will be under the control of those "whose aim is to convert democratic India into an imitator of communist China."
"One Nation, One Party, One Supreme Leader. Must this not be stopped? yes, it must be. Only you can stop it," Mr Sinha said in the statement
My appeal to all members of the electoral college ahead of the Presidential election tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/27JVgwC8ZN
— Yashwant Sinha (@YashwantSinha) July 17, 2022On Saturday, he shared a video on Twitter and urged all MLAs and MPs to vote according to their conscience.
Advertisement"I 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 the video.
इस साल राष्ट्रपति चुनाव दो व्यक्तियों के बीच नहीं, बल्कि दो विचारधाराओं के बीच का चुनाव है। केवल एक पक्ष हमारे संविधान में निहित प्रावधानों और मूल्यों की रक्षा करना चाहता है। मैं सभी सांसदों और विधायकों से इस बार संविधान और उनकी अंतरात्मा की आवाज़ पर वोट करने की अपील करता हूं। pic.twitter.com/0Zs1F5qJic
— Yashwant Sinha (@YashwantSinha) July 16, 2022Yashwant Sinha, a bureaucrat-turned-politician, had held important portfolios such as Minister for External Affairs and Finance in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
The presidential election will be held on Monday and the counting is on Thursday.
