Sofia Firdous has won from Odisha’s Barabati Cuttack assembly seat on a Congress ticket. With this victory, Sofia Firdous’s name has been recorded in the pages of history. Sofia is Odisha’s first Muslim woman MLA. Sofia defeated BJP’s Purna Chandra Mahapatra by a margin of 8001 votes in the assembly elections.
Since 1937, 141 women have become MLAs in Odisha, but there has never been a Muslim woman MLA. This is the first time a Muslim woman has won in the Odisha Legislative Assembly. Sofia is the daughter of former Barabati-Cuttack MLA Mohammad Mokim. No Muslim woman has sat in the Assembly before her.
Who is Sofia Firdous?
Sofia Firdous (32 years old) belongs to a political family. She is the daughter of senior Congress leader Mohammad Muqeem. In place of Mohammad Muqeem, the Congress party gave ticket to his daughter Sofia Firdous in the 2024 assembly elections and she won.
Sofia Firdous has obtained a degree in Civil Engineering from Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology. Along with this, Sofia has also obtained a Diploma in Executive General Management Program in the year 2022 from Indian Institute of Management Bangalore.
Sofia Firdous has now won the post of MLA, but she has been active in politics since last year. In the year 2023, Sofia Firdous was elected President of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India in Bhubaneswar. She has also been the coordinator of the women’s wing of the East Zone of this organization.
Sofia Firdous’s husband is Sheikh Meraj Ul Haq, who is a businessman. Sofia Firdous is also the co-chairman of the Bhubaneswar chapter of India Green Building Council.
Nandini Satpathy was the first woman Chief Minister of Odisha state. The special thing is that Satpathy also reached the assembly by winning the election from the same Barabaati Cuttack assembly seat in the year 1972.
This time BJP has won a huge majority in the Odisha elections. BJP has won 78 out of 147 assembly seats in the state. With this, the 24-year-old government of Naveen Patnaik and BJD was removed from power in Odisha. BJP also won a landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections and won 20 out of 21 seats in the state.
Sophia said, ‘I got the ticket to contest the assembly elections on 24 April and voting took place on 25 May. I visited each area and ward to meet the voters. People know my father very well, his reputation helped me (Sophia) get a good response from the voters.’
How much property does Sophia have?
Sophia is the director of a real estate company and the president of the Bhubaneswar chapter of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI). Sofia owns assets worth Rs 3.64 crore.