Rahul Gandhi Alleges “Vote Theft” in Haryana, Shows Photo of Brazilian Model Used 22 Times in Voter List

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday held a press conference in New Delhi, alleging large-scale voter fraud in the recent Haryana Assembly elections. He claimed that nearly 25 lakh (2.5 million) votes were “stolen” in the state and accused the ruling BJP of manipulating voter rolls.

During the press meet, Gandhi displayed a photo of a woman—whom he described as a Brazilian model—claiming her image appeared in the Haryana voter list 22 times under different names and across 10 polling booths. “Who is this woman? What’s her name? Where is she from? Yet, she voted 22 times in Haryana under names like Seema, Sweety, Saraswati, Rashmi, and Vilma,” Gandhi said, highlighting what he called a major flaw in the election process.

According to reports, the image used by Rahul Gandhi is a stock photograph taken by Brazilian photographer Matheus Ferrero. Congress social media handles also referred to the woman as a “Brazilian model,” though her actual identity remains unverified. Kerala Congress, on X (formerly Twitter), sarcastically wrote, “Brazilian citizen Matheus Ferrero cast his vote in Haryana under 22 names—from Sweety to Saraswati. Amazing.” However, it later emerged that Matheus Ferrero is a photographer, not the person in the image.

Congress alleged that the woman’s photo was inserted multiple times into the voter database, suggesting a manipulation that could only occur at the central level, not by local officials.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) quickly dismissed Rahul Gandhi’s claims. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju called the allegations baseless, saying Gandhi was attempting to “divert attention from his political failures.” Rijiju added, “Last time, he wore a woman’s name on his T-shirt, and the woman objected. Today, he’s using the name of a foreign woman. He’s wasting the nation’s time.”