A day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reiterated his ‘vote chori’ claims, citing the photo of a Brazilian model who he alleged voted 22 times, the woman in the image has reacted to the controversy, stating she “had absolutely nothing to do with Indian politics”.
The woman, identified as Larissa Nery, took to X to claim that she had never been to India and her photograph was taken from stock photographs. She added, in Portuguese, that the photo was taken when she was young, and it was “crazy” that they were using her picture for voting in India and “to fight each other”.
“A friend sent me another picture saying you won’t believe it,” she added, calling the situation “unbelievable”. “I have never been to India. I have absolutely nothing to do with politics in India. My photo was purchased from a stock image platform and used without my involvement,” she added.
The name of the Brazilian Model seen in @RahulGandhi's press conference is Larissa. Here's her reaction after her old photograph went viral. pic.twitter.com/K4xSibA2OP
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) November 5, 2025
Nery said she is no longer a model, but now an influencer and a hairdresser. As per reports, Nery owns a salon in Belo Horizonte, the capital of Brazil’s second-largest state, Minas Gerais.
Nery later posted another video, “appreciating the kindness of Indians,” who were viewing her stories and sharing them with Indian media. “I don’t know your language, but I am genuinely grateful,” the former model said, adding that Indian journalists have been trying to reach her for comments on how her image was misused.
“Welcome, my Indian followers, to my Instagram! It seems I’ve gained many Indian followers now. People were commenting on my photos as if I was elected! Just to be clear, it wasn’t me, it was only my photo," she asserted.
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The controversy broke after Rahul Gandhi displayed the image of the Brazilian model, which he said appeared 22 times under different names in the voter list. “Who is this lady? She votes 22 times in Haryana, in 10 different booths. She has multiple names—Seema, Sweety, Saraswati, Rashmi, Vilma... " he said and termed it as part of a centralised operation.“The lady is a Brazilian model. That’s a stock photograph, and she is one of 25 lakh such records in Haryana," he claimed on Wednesday.
