New Delhi

Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari today said he has accepted the resignation of Pranav Pandya who was nominated to the Upper House by the President.

Pandya, the head of All World Gayatri Parivar, was nominated to Rajya Sabha on May 4 but he turned it down.

When the House met for the day, Ansari said he had on May 9 received a letter from Pandya in this regard.

“I have accepted his resignation with effect from May 11, 2016,” he said.

Pandya,an MD in Medicine had turned down the Rajya Sabha nomination saying he believed he can serve and impact people and politics better by staying away from the Upper House. Pandya spurned the honour saying atmosphere in the Upper House was not conducive for him.

“I don’t think the atmosphere in Rajya Sabha is conducive for me. It will never be,” he had told PTI over phone, giving reasons for his refusal to accept the nomination.

“I have watched the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha in last two days. The way they were abusing each other, I don’t think I will be able to change them. Rather I will devote my time outside Rajya Sabha where I can impact on the life of millions of people for their betterment,” he had said.

65-year-old Pandya, the seventh person to be nominated by the Modi government, had informed the Secretary General of Rajya Sabha as well as the Home Ministry about his decision through e-mail, Pandya’s close aide Suraj Prasad Shukla said.

Pandya’s All World Gayatri Pariwar (AWGP) is claimed to be a modern adoption of the age-old wisdom of Vedic Rishis who practiced and propagated the philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam with its headquarters in Haridwar.

PTI