A surprising twist has emerged in Haryana’s election controversy after Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi claimed that a Brazilian model’s photo had been used to commit voter fraud. According to Gandhi, the woman’s picture was uploaded from a central server and appeared at 10 polling booths, allegedly used to cast 22 votes.
The revelation has since sent social media into a frenzy, with people across India and Brazil trying to identify the woman whose photo was allegedly misused.
The woman in question has been identified as Larissa Nery, a hairdressing professional from Minas Gerais, a state in southeastern Brazil. She owns a salon in Belo Horizonte, the capital city of the region.
Contrary to online claims calling her a ‘model,’ Nery clarified that she is not a professional model. The photograph that has now gone viral was taken in 2017 by photographer Matheus Ferrero as part of a personal project. The image had been available on several stock photo websites before it was recently deleted.
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Reports suggest that Nery’s image has also been used for fake profiles on various social media platforms over the years, adding another layer of complexity to the alleged voter fraud controversy.
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Brazilian fact-checking outlet Aos Fatos confirmed that they had reached out to Larissa Nery. She expressed complete shock and confusion over her image being linked to the Haryana elections. “I am not a model,” she told the outlet, explaining that she only posed for the photo to help a friend years ago.
Soon after Rahul Gandhi’s remarks went viral, a video of Nery surfaced online. Speaking in Portuguese, she laughed off the rumours, saying:
“Friends, I’m going to tell you a joke. They are using an old picture of me — I must have been about 18 or 20 years old. I don’t know if it’s about voting in India!”
Brazilian Model Larissa whose image has been used in Haryana for fake votes reacts to the big expose and irregularities shared by @RahulGandhi today
— Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) November 5, 2025
pic.twitter.com/tu51SkH5Dw
An AI-generated translation of her video revealed that while she seemed amused, Nery also appeared bewildered that her old photograph had become part of an Indian political controversy.
The bizarre incident has sparked both outrage and humour online. While some users questioned how such a major oversight could occur in official voter databases, others shared memes featuring Larissa’s photo, calling the situation “peak election chaos.”
As of now, there has been no official response from the Election Commission of India regarding the authenticity of the claim or how the alleged duplication occurred. Meanwhile, Larissa Nery, who says she has no links to India whatsoever, continues to trend across Indian social media platforms for all the wrong reasons.
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