BJP leader questions Sania Mirza’s credentials to be Telangana brand ambassador

NEW DELHI: Telangana BJP leader K Laxman called tennis star Sania Mirza as "daughter-in-law" of Pakistan and questioned her credentials to be the brand ambassador of Telangana.

Sania was born in Maharashtra and settled in Hyderabad only later and, hence, is a "non-local", the BJP leader told the reporters.

He further sought to dub her as "daughter-in-law" of Pakistan, pointing out that she was married to that country's cricketer Shoaib Malik.

The 27-year-old tennis player had never participated in agitation for a separate state of Telangana, said Laxman, who is leader of BJP in Telangana Legislative Assembly.

He accused the government of taking the step with an eye on the minority community votes in upcoming elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.

Handing over a grant of Rs 1 crore here on Tuesday, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao appointed Sania as brand ambassador of Telangana and described her as a daughter of Hyderabad.

"Telangana is proud of Sania who is a true Hyderabadi. She's now ranked number five in international tennis and we wish she becomes the number one," the chief minister had said on the occasion.

Reacting to the incident, Congress described the BJP leader's statement against Sania Mirza as “bizarre”.

The TRS government had decided to appoint the tennis star as brand ambassador of the newly carved-out state.