Sofia Firdous

Indian politician

Sofia Firdous

Member of Odisha Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office June 2024
Preceded by	Mohammed Moquim
Constituency	Barabati-Cuttack

Personal details
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Indian National Congress
Parent	Mohammed Moquim
Alma mater	Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (B.Tech) Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

Sofia Firous (born 1992) is an Indian politician and a sitting member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Barabati-Cuttack. She is a member of the Indian National Congress.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] She is the first woman from the Odia muslim community to get elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in Odisha.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]

Early life and education

Sofia hails from Cuttack and is the daughter of former Congress MLA Mohammed Moquim.^[9] She is married to writer and entrepreneur Sheikh Mairajul Haque. Having completed her schooling from St. Joseph's Girl's High School, Cuttack and Ravenshaw Junior College she earned her Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering from Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar in 2013. In 2022 Sofia completed her Executive General Management program at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore.^[10]^[11]

She was managing realty and asset development businesses after her studies and was also the president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (Credai) Bhubaneswar chapter before taking the plunge into politics. She is also the first millenial to be elected as an member of Odisha legislative assembly from the Barabati-Cuttack assembly constituency.^[12]

Career

Sofia made her political debut from the Barabati-Cuttack Assembly constituency in the 2024 Odisha Legislative Assembly election defeating Purna Chandra Mahapatra of the Bharatiya Janata Party by a margin of 8,001 votes.^[5]^[13]^[14]

References

^ "Barabati-Cuttack Election Result 2024 LIVE Updates Highlights: Assembly Winner, Loser, Leading, Trailing, MLA, Margin". News18. 4 June 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
^ "Barabati-Cuttack, Odisha Assembly Election Results 2024 Highlights: INC's Sofia Firdous defeats BJP's Purna Chandra Mahapatra with 8116 votes". India Today. 4 June 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
^ "Election commission of india".
^ "'Odia, Indian, and a woman first': Congress' Sofia Firdous on identity as 'Muslim MLA'". Hindustan Times. 9 June 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Sofia Firdous becomes first ever Muslim woman MLA in Odisha". The Siasat Daily. 5 June 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
^ "सोफ़िया फ़िरदौस: ओडिशा की पहली मुस्लिम महिला विधायक जो जीत के बाद पहुँचीं दुर्गा मंदिर". BBC News हिंदी (in Hindi). 12 June 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
^ "સોફિયા ફિરદૌસ: ઓડિશાનાં પ્રથમ મુસ્લિમ મહિલા ધારાસભ્ય જે જીત્યાં બાદ મંદિરે ગયાં". BBC News ગુજરાતી (in Gujarati). 13 June 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
^ "صوفیہ فردوس: اوڈیشہ سے اسمبلی پہنچنے والی پہلی مسلمان خاتون، جنھوں نے ہمیشہ مشکل چیزوں کا انتخاب کیا". BBC News اردو (in Urdu). 11 June 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
^ "Sofia Firdous(Indian National Congress(INC)):Constituency- BARABATI-CUTTACK(CUTTACK) - Affidavit Information of Candidate". www.myneta.info. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
^ https://affidavit.eci.gov.in/CandidateCustomFilter?_token=DQVMsxtbpI1vru0XTGskHpeIytvAqnKtGJSCfPFP&electionType=24-PC-GENERAL-1-46&election=24-AC-GENERAL-3-47&states=S18&constId=90&page=2 ^{[bare URL]}
^ "Sofia Firdous: Odisha's first Muslim woman MLA, an IIM graduate, scripts history". The Economic Times. 9 June 2024. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
^ "IIM passout Sofia Firdous, 32, is Odisha's first Muslim woman MLA". The Times of India. 9 June 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
^ "Meet Sofia Firdous, first Muslim woman to win assembly election in Odisha". Hindustan Times. 9 June 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
^ "Odisha's first Muslim woman MLA Sofia Firdous calls her win a message of brotherhood". ThePrint. 10 June 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.