Rahul Gandhi’s presser puts spotlight on Brazilian woman; Internet abuzz with her reaction

Rahul Gandhi’s “vote-chori” presser has put the spotlight on a Brazilian woman whose photo the Congress leader claimed appeared multiple times on Haryana’s voter list, with the Internet abuzz about her identity and a video reaction of hers expressing shock at the development.

Congress leader and the party’s social media head, Supriya Shrinate, shared a video of the woman, identified as Larissa Nery, purportedly reacting to her image going viral, after Mr. Gandhi showed it at his press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday (November 5, 2025) and claimed that it was used 22 times at 10 booths in the Rai Assembly constituency of Haryana, with names such as “Seema, Sweety and Saraswati” on the electoral list.

Media reports quoted the Brazilian woman as saying in the video that the photo shown at the press conference is an old photo of hers.

“Guys, they are using an old photo of mine. It is an old photo, okay? I was young in the photo, I was like 18 or 20 years old…. I do not know if it is an election or something about voting that you have to vote for. And in India. Ah! they are portraying me as Indian to scam people, guys. What madness!” she was quoted as saying, according to a rough translation from Portuguese.

Mr. Gandhi said a “centralised plan” included a Brazilian model whose photograph was used 22 times at 10 booths in the Rai constituency during last year’s Haryana Assembly polls, using names such as “Seema, Sweety and Saraswati”.

After showing her photograph, Mr. Gandhi asked reporters to guess the nationality of the woman.

“So, last guesses, I am going to give a prize if anybody can guess this. Anybody? She is from Brazil. She is a Brazilian model. That is a stock photograph and she is one of 25 lakh such records in Haryana. This is proof of a centralised operation and I am going to show you — if you just scan [a QR code that was shown on a screen with the image of the Brazilian woman] that, which I will do just now, if you scan that, this opens. That is her official page,” he said at the presser.

The leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha alleged that the Haryana polls last year were “stolen”. He cited voter list data to claim that 25 lakh entries were fake and the Election Commission (EC) colluded with the BJP to ensure that the party won the polls.

Since the press conference, the Brazilian woman’s photograph has gone viral, with intense speculation about her identity, profession and whereabouts. A number of memes and satirical posts are also doing the rounds of social media, using her image.