Meet Sofia Firdous, Odisha's first Muslim woman MLA
In the Barabati-Cuttack seat, she defeated Purna Chandra Mahapatra of the bjp by a margin of 8,001 votes, with Prakash Chandra Behra of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) placing third.
Sofia Firdous is the daughter of Mohammed Moquim, a prominent congress leader who previously served as a Member of the Legislative from the same seat until being disqualified due to his conviction in a corruption case. The congress then decided to run Firdous for the position.
Firdous served as director of her father's Metro Builders business before her election debut. She is also connected to the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of india (Credai) bhubaneswar unit.
According to Firdous's vote affidavit, which she filed with the election Commission, she is not charged with any crimes. Her obligations are close to Rs 28 lakhs, but her total assets are estimated to be about Rs 5 crore.
In september 2022, Moquim was found guilty in a corruption case by the special vigilance judge in Bhubaneswar. He was sentenced to three years of hard jail and fined Rs 50,000. In april 2024, the orissa High court affirmed the conviction.
The BJD administration led by naveen patnaik ruled odisha for 24 years till the bjp took control of the state in the 2024 assembly election by capturing 78 of the 147 seats.