A bizarre electoral controversy involving Rahul Gandhi has taken an international turn, with a Brazilian model, Larissa Nery, humorously addressing the use of her photograph in an alleged voter fraud case in Haryana. Gandhi had presented her image as evidence of multiple votes cast under different identities.
Nery, in a widely shared video, expressed her astonishment and amusement at the situation. “Guys, they’re using an old photo of mine. I look really young in the photo — I must be about 20, 18 years old. They are using my photo to do… I don’t know if it’s an election, something you have to vote in India. They’re portraying me as Indian to scam people, guys. Can you believe it? What kind of craziness are we living through?” she questioned.
She clarified that the photograph in question was taken when she was much younger, around 18 to 20 years old. Nery recounted the unusual experience of being contacted by a reporter for an interview about the electoral anomaly, noting how the journalist found her on Instagram. The model found it strange that her image was being used to create a narrative of fraud in a foreign election.
Gandhi’s claim asserted that Larissa’s photo appeared 22 times on the voter roll with different names like Sweety, Seema, and Saraswati. However, subsequent media reports highlighted a voter named Poonam, whose ID card bore Larissa’s photograph. Poonam reportedly presented her voter ID and affirmed that she had indeed voted in the Haryana polls, contradicting the fraud allegations.
In response to the incident, the BJP has accused the Congress and Rahul Gandhi of deliberately spreading a fake voter list with the intent to undermine the credibility of the Election Commission of India.