Hyderabad, Jul 24 (Agencies) : In a controversial remark, Telangana BJP leader K Laxman on Wednesday called tennis star Sania Mirza as "daughter-in-law" of Pakistan and questioned her credentials to be the brand ambassador of Telangana.
Reacting to the incident, Congress described the BJP leader's statement against Sania Mirza as “bizarre”.
The TRS government had of late decided to appoint the tennis star as brand ambassador of the newly carved-out state.
Sania was born in Maharashtra and settled in Hyderabad only later and, hence, is a "non-local", the BJP leader told reporters here.
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.