A Brazilian woman whose photo was used by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to allege large-scale voter fraud in Haryana has broken her silence. The influencer (initially mentioned as Matheus Ferrero by Gandhi), identified as Larissa, said she was shocked to see her picture being displayed at a political press conference in 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. I’ve never even been to India,” she said in a video message.
Larissa, who described herself as a digital influencer and hairdresser, clarified that the image was taken years ago during her early modelling days.
Since Rahul Gandhi’s press conference, Larissa’s Instagram profile has been flooded with comments and new followers from India.
“Welcome, my Indian followers! It seems I’ve gained many new fans. People were commenting as if I’d been elected!” she joked, adding, “It wasn’t me, it was only my photo.”
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
Larissa thanked Indian users for their warmth and said she was touched by their curiosity.
“I don’t know your language, but I truly appreciate the kindness. I thought I looked Mexican,” she quipped.
She added that Indian journalists had been reaching out to her for interviews.
ALSO READ: ‘Who is Matheus Ferrero?’ Rahul Gandhi drops ‘H-Bomb’, says Brazilian model in Haryana voter list 22 times
“Many Indian reporters are looking for me — they call me the ‘mysterious Brazilian model,’ but I’m not even a model anymore,” she laughed.
On a lighter note, Larissa said she planned to learn Hindi greetings to connect with her new fan base: “I only know ‘Namaste,’ but I’ll learn more words soon. Maybe I’ll be famous in India!”
Rahul Gandhi’s Haryana Allegations
At his press conference on Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi renewed his ‘vote theft’ allegations, claiming that the 2024 Haryana Assembly election was “stolen.” He alleged that 25 lakh fake entries were used to manipulate the results in favour of the BJP.
In a presentation titled “H-Files,” Gandhi displayed what he said was evidence of duplicate and fake voters, including 22 voter IDs carrying Larissa’s stock photo, used under names like “Sweety,” “Seema,” and “Saraswati.”
ALSO READ: ‘Baseless narratives’: Kiren Rijiju hits back at Rahul Gandhi over ‘vote chori’ allegations
“There was no election in Haryana. There was a theft of elections, and it’s very clear who is responsible,” Gandhi declared.
He claimed there were 25,41,144 fake voters — including over 5.2 lakh duplicates, 93,000 invalid addresses, and nearly 19 lakh bulk voters.
Election Commission and BJP Hit Back
The Election Commission of India (ECI) dismissed Gandhi’s claims, saying no appeals had been filed against the Haryana electoral rolls. A source questioned how Gandhi could be sure that alleged duplicate voters supported the BJP.
“If duplicates exist, how can he know whom they voted for? They could well have supported the Congress,” an official said.
The BJP also hit back, calling Gandhi’s accusations “false and baseless” and accusing him of attempting to “defame the Election Commission and the country’s democracy.”
