Hyderabad: Tennis star Sania Mirza is "Pakistan's daughter-in-law" and has incorrectly been designated the brand ambassador of India's youngest state, professes a BJP leader from Telangana, inciting strong political reactions. ('She is the Pride of India': Reactions on BJP Leader's Remark on Sania Mirza)
K Laxman, a legislator from the BJP in Telangana, says that the state government broke basic protocol by picking Ms Mirza, 27, as its brand ambassador because she is married to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik and is not local enough - he says she was born in Maharashtra and her family moved later to Hyderabad.
While announcing she would serve as its brand ambassador, the Telangana government led by K Chandrasekhar Rao sanctioned a crore on Monday for her training and coaching. (Sania Mirza Appointed Brand Ambassador of Telangana)
She had tweeted, "Honoured and humbled to be the first brand ambassador for the state of Telangana :) #blessed."
In defense of her father's decision, KCR's daughter, K Kavitha pointed out that Gujarat has Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan as its ambassador, though Big B as he is known was not born or brought up in the state.
Criticizing Mr Laxman's comments, senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi said, "This sort of comment only reflects the culture of the person." But the party's Subramanian Swamy stood in solidarity with Mr Laxman, stating, "Well this is a point. The BJP's stand is well taken."
Hanumantha Rao of the Congress, a parliamentarian from Telangana, is among those who disagree with Ms Mirza's new post. "She hasn't worked in Telangana before. It's not about being married to a Pakistani player, it is because she hasn't worked in Telangana," he said.
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