Pranav Pandya, who heads the Gayatri Pariwar spiritual group in Haridwar, has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha, it was announced on Wednesday.
A home ministry announcement said his nomination is meant to fill up a vacancy caused by the retirement of a nominated member.
Pandya, head of the All World Gayatri Pariwar and editor of Akhand Jyoti magazine, has been a proponent of Indian culture.
Pandya is also chancellor of the Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyala, director of the Brahmavarchas Research Institute and president of the Swami Vivekananda Yogvidya Mahapeetham.
A medical doctor by profession, Pandya gave up a lucrative career in the US at the insistence of his guru Pandit Shriram Sharma.
--IANS
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