NEW DELHI — A Brazilian model named Larissa has reacted with disbelief after her old photograph went viral in the midst of a political controversy triggered by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of large-scale voter fraud in the Haryana Assembly elections.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had engaged in electoral malpractice, claiming that the same woman’s photograph appeared multiple times on voter lists across different polling booths. Displaying the image on screen with the caption “Yeh kaun hai?”, he said the woman was a Brazilian model whose picture had been used to cast fake votes in Haryana.
However, an investigation by India TV found that the photograph shown by Gandhi originated from Unsplash, a popular platform for royalty-free stock images. The picture, of a woman wearing a blue denim jacket, was credited to photographer Matheus Ferrero and had been downloaded over four lakh times and viewed nearly sixty lakh times.
While the image was widely circulated, the model’s name was initially unknown. Following the viral controversy, the woman in the photograph was identified as Larissa, a Brazilian model. Reacting in Portuguese through a video, she expressed astonishment over her old photo resurfacing in Indian politics, VarthaBharati reported.
Laughing off the situation, Larissa said the picture was outdated taken during her youth and wondered why it was being used in election-related disputes. She also mentioned that a reporter had contacted her through Instagram for an interview about the matter. “It’s absurd and unexpected,” she remarked, reacting to the viral political storm around her image.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission dismissed Rahul Gandhi’s allegations, stating that Congress polling agents were present at every booth and that no objections were raised during voting. The Commission added that all due procedures were followed and that any grievances should be submitted through formal channels.
