Rahul Gandhi Flags “Brazilian Model” in Haryana Voter List, Woman Reacts: ‘What Madness Is This?’
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s fresh charge of “vote chori” in Haryana has unexpectedly gone global — all the way to Brazil. At a press conference on Thursday, Gandhi displayed the photo of a woman he said was a “Brazilian model” whose image was allegedly used 22 times in the voter rolls of the Rai assembly constituency under different names, including Seema, Sweety and Saraswati.
“Who is this lady? What is her name? Where does she come from? Yet she votes 22 times in Haryana, across 10 booths, with multiple identities,” Gandhi said, calling it evidence of a “centralised operation” to manipulate the 2024 Haryana election.
He said the image could be traced online to “Matheus Ferrero,” a Brazilian photographer whose work is publicly available on Unsplash — something that an independent Google search also confirmed.
Brazilian woman responds online
Hours after the presser went viral, the woman whose photo was allegedly used — identified through reverse image search as Larissa Nery — posted a video reacting to the controversy. Speaking in Portuguese, she appeared shocked and amused:
“Folks, they used an old photo of mine from when I was about 20. They are using it in an election in India and pretending I’m an Indian woman. What madness is this?”
She said journalists had already started contacting her and even called the salon where she works.
“Reporters are calling me, sending messages… What world are we living in?” she added.
Larissa also shared screenshots from X (formerly Twitter) on her Instagram story, confirming she had become aware of the viral clip.
What Rahul Gandhi alleges
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Same image reportedly used 22 times in voter rolls
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Appeared under multiple names in the same constituency
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Part of what Gandhi calls “large-scale electoral fraud”
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Congress claims it was cheated out of victory in Haryana
The Election Commission has not yet responded to Gandhi’s specific claim.
The photo origin
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Photo belongs to Brazilian photographer Matheus Ferrero
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Available on Unsplash, a free stock photo platform
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Used by multiple websites globally
Congress says the duplicated image is “proof” of fake identities in voter lists.
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