Sofia Firdous (born 23 August 1991) 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 The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

. She is the first woman from the Odia

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

community to get elected as a

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

Early life and education

Sofia Firdous was born on 23 August 1991 in Cuttack, Odisha. She is the daughter of

Mohammed Moquim Mohammed Moquim (born 3 July 1965) is an Indian politician from INC. He was a member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Barabati-Cuttack. Personal life Moquim is from Lalbag, Cuttack district. His father's name is Mohammed Nayeem. He i ...

, a former Member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly (2019-2024) from the Barabati-Cuttack Assembly constituency. She completed her early education at St. Joseph's Girls's High School in Cuttack and Ravenshaw Junior College. She later pursued a

Bachelor of Technology A Bachelor of Technology (BTech) is an undergraduate degree that is awarded for a higher education program in engineering. Countries Australia In Australia, the Bachelor of Technology degree is offered by RMIT University, Edith Cowan Univ ...

in Civil Engineering from

Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), formerly KIIT, Bhubaneswar, is a private deemed university located in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. It was founded in 1992 as Industrial Training Institute in Bhubaneswar. In 2017 it was rename ...

, KIIT University in Bhubaneswar, graduating in 2013. She furthered her education by completing an Executive General Management Program at the

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM Bangalore or IIMB) is a reputed business school and an Institute of National Importance located in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Founded in 1973, it was chronologically the third in the first gener ...

, in 2022.

Career

Early career and entrepreneurship

Before entering politics, Sofia Firdous was an established entrepreneur. She worked as a director at Metro Group, where she played a pivotal role in realty and asset development ventures. Her responsibilities spanned various facets of business, including operations, management, marketing, and overall growth. In addition to her entrepreneurial ventures, Sofia held significant positions in several business and industry organizations. She served as the President of CREDAI Bhubaneswar Chapter from 2023-2025, becoming the first woman to lead a city or state chapter in the organization. She was also the CWW East Zone Coordinator at CREDAI from 2019 to 2023. Her leadership roles extended to her involvement with the

Confederation of Indian Industry The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is a Non-governmental organization, non-governmental business and industry organisation and advocacy group headquartered in New Delhi, India, founded in 1895. CII is a membership-based organisation. ...

, where she was the Co-Chair at the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) Bhubaneswar Chapter. Sofia was also an active member of the CII Indian Women Network (IWN) Odisha and a core committee member of the ICC INWEC Odisha. Sofia is also a trustee of the Moquim Foundation, an organization dedicated to social welfare and community service.

Political career

Sofia Firdous entered the political arena in 2024, running as the

candidate for the Barabati-Cuttack Assembly constituency in the Odisha Legislative Assembly elections. She won, defeating Purna Chandra Mahapatra of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

by a margin of 8,001 votes. Carrying forward her father’s legacy, she retained her father Mohammed Moquim’s seat, as he had served as the MLA for Barabati-Cuttack from 2019 to 2024.

Personal life

Sofia Firdous married Sheikh Mairajul Haque, an entrepreneur based in Odisha who manages business in different states of India, in 2015.

Awards and honors

* Times Power Woman 2021 * Times Power Woman 2023 * Top 20 Inspirational Personalities of Odisha 2021

References

Women in Odisha politics Living people 1992 births People from Cuttack Odisha MLAs 2024–2029 Indian National Congress politicians from Odisha Indian Muslim politicians {{Odisha-INC-politician-stub