Who is ‘Brazilian model’ Rahul Gandhi referred to in Haryana’s voter rolls? She reacts on social media

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday introduced a photo of a Brazilian model that was used 22 times under names such as Seema, Sweety, and Saraswati in Haryana’s voter rolls.

Presenting the photo of the woman, Gandhi asked, “Who is this lady? What is her name? Where does she come from? But she votes 22 times in Haryana, at 10 different booths, and has multiple names.” 

He then disclosed that the woman was a Brazilian model. His remarks prompted a massive search for her on the internet.

After a simple reverse image search, the photograph is traced to Matheus Ferrero, a Brazilian photographer whose work includes portraits and fashion images on Unsplash.

Brazilian woman reacts

Hours after the conference, a woman who claimed to be the person whose photo was used appeared online in a video responding to the incident. She said the picture shown during Gandhi’s press conference was of her when she was “around 20 years old”.

A reverse image search identified the woman as Larissa Nery, who later shared screenshots on her Instagram story showing her video being circulated on X.

She reportedly said in the video, “What madness is this, what world are we living in?” She said, adding that a journalist had even contacted the salon where she works.

As per Larissa, when she didn’t respond to a man on Instagram who wanted her ‘interview’, the reporter called a salon where she works.

She also had been flooded with messages and even received the viral image from a friend in another city.