DHAKA: An MP from India's ruling BJP party has questioned the appointment of tennis star Sania Mirza as brand ambassador of the newly-created state of Telangana because she is married to a Pakistani.

K Laxman said Mirza’s marriage to cricketer Shoaib Malik had made her a ‘daughter-in-law’ of Pakistan.

Mirza has responded by saying she is ‘an Indian and will remain so until the end of my life’, reports the BBC.

The tennis star was appointed the state’s brand ambassador on Tuesday.

Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao handed over a letter of appointment and a cheque for 10m rupees ($166,380) to the 27-year-old tennis player at a function in the state capital, Hyderabad.

The chief minister described her as a ‘true Hyderabadi’ and said that ‘Telangana is proud’ of her.

But now, an unsavoury row has broken out with Laxman, the BJP MP from Telangana, questioning Mirza’s credentials since her husband is a Pakistani.

Laxman also says that the tennis player is not fit for the honour as she is not local, he says she was born in the neighbouring state of Maharashtra and that her family moved to Hyderabad later.

An upset Mirza responded by saying she was indeed born in a hospital in Mumbai as her mother needed specialist care, but that she returned home to Hyderabad when she was three weeks old.

BDST: 2130 HRS, JUL 24, 2014