‘I’m not even Indian!’ Brazilian model baffled as photo stars in India’s vote theft row
Follow TNM's WhatsApp channel for news updates and story links.Rahul Gandhi’s latest “vote chori” presentation on Haryana elections took an unusual detour, featuring an old photo of a Brazilian model that has now left the woman herself bewildered.At a press conference on Wednesday, November 5, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the same woman’s image appeared 22 times across 10 polling booths in Haryana’s Rai constituency with different names such as Seema, Sweety, and Saraswati. He alleged that 25 lakh entries in the Haryana electoral rolls were fake, accusing the Election Commission of colluding with the BJP to “steal the election”.The woman in the photo has now been identified as Larissa Nery, a Brazilian hairdresser and former model from Belo Horizonte. Reacting to the controversy, Larissa posted a video in Portuguese, later translated by fact-checkers, expressing disbelief at finding herself at the centre of an Indian political storm.“Guys, I can’t believe these people are gossiping. They’re using an old photo of mine, I was 18 or 20 in that photo! They’re portraying me as Indian to scam people. What madness, what craziness is this, what world do we live in?” she said.Here's the reaction of the Brazilian Model Larissa seen in the viral image shared by @RahulGandhi during his Vote Chori Press Conference. https://t.co/qyF9dCXF5x pic.twitter.com/Ea2SPgll7z— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) November 5, 2025 In follow-up posts, Larissa clarified that the image was from her early modelling days and had been uploaded by a photographer friend years ago on a free stock-image website. “I have absolutely nothing to do with politics in India. My photo was purchased or downloaded from a stock platform and used without my involvement. I’ve never even been to India,” she said.She added that Indian journalists had reached out to her for interviews after her image went viral. “I’m not even a model anymore, I’m a hairdresser,” she said, joking that she now planned to “learn some Indian words” to greet the surge of Indian followers on her social media.The BJP dismissed Rahul Gandhi’s allegations as “false and baseless,” while sources in the Election Commission said there were no official complaints regarding duplicate entries in Haryana’s voter list.Brazilian photo appears as 22 voters in Haryana: Rahul says lakhs of votes were rigged
Follow TNM's WhatsApp channel for news updates and story links.
RAHUL Gandhi’s latest “vote chori” presentation on Haryana elections took an unusual detour, featuring an old photo of a Brazilian model that has now left the woman herself bewildered.
At a press conference on Wednesday, November 5, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the same woman’s image appeared 22 times across 10 polling booths in Haryana’s Rai constituency with different names such as Seema, Sweety, and Saraswati. He alleged that 25 lakh entries in the Haryana electoral rolls were fake, accusing the Election Commission of colluding with the BJP to “steal the election”.
The woman in the photo has now been identified as Larissa Nery, a Brazilian hairdresser and former model from Belo Horizonte. Reacting to the controversy, Larissa posted a video in Portuguese, later translated by fact-checkers, expressing disbelief at finding herself at the centre of an Indian political storm.
“Guys, I can’t believe these people are gossiping. They’re using an old photo of mine; I was 18 or 20 in that photo! They’re portraying me as Indian to scam people. What madness, what craziness is this, what world do we live in?” she said.
Here's the reaction of the Brazilian Model Larissa seen in the viral image shared by @RahulGandhi during his Vote Chori Press Conference. https://t.co/qyF9dCXF5x pic.twitter.com/Ea2SPgll7z
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) November 5, 2025
In follow-up posts, Larissa clarified that the image was from her early modelling days and had been uploaded by a photographer friend years ago on a free stock-image website.
“I have absolutely nothing to do with politics in India. My photo was purchased or downloaded from a stock platform and used without my involvement. I’ve never even been to India,” she said.
She added that Indian journalists had reached out to her for interviews after her image went viral. “I’m not even a model anymore, I’m a hairdresser,” she said, joking that she now planned to “learn some Indian words” to greet the surge of Indian followers on her social media.
The BJP dismissed Rahul Gandhi’s allegations as “false and baseless,” while sources in the Election Commission said there were no official complaints regarding duplicate entries in Haryana’s voter list.
