Sofia Firdous becomes Odisha Assembly's 1st Muslim woman MLA

Sofia Firdous was elected as the first Muslim woman MLA to the Odisha State Assembly on June 4, from the Barabati-Cuttack constituency. The 32-year-old Congress candidate defeated Purna Chandra Mahapatra of the Bharatiya Janata Party by a margin of 8,001 votes. Firdous comes from a political lineage and made her electoral debut in this Legislative Assembly election.