Brazilian Photographer Matheus Ferrero Deletes Instagram Account After Rahul Gandhi's Haryana 'Vote Chori' Claim, Alleges Online Harassment

Brasilia: A day after Congress MP Rahul Gandhi used a photo of a Brazilian woman during his press conference to level ‘vote chori (theft)’ allegations against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the 2024 Haryana polls, Brazilian Photographer Matheus Ferrero, who clicked the picture, deleted his Instagram account. Ferrero alleged that he faced online harassment after Gabdhi’s press conference and even claimed that his Instagram account was hacked.

Ferrero is reportedly based in the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte. He clicked the photo of the Brazilian model, Larissa, in 2017 and shared it online on various apps with her permission. In the image, the woman was wearing a blue denim jacket.

The photograph is available for free download on stock photography websites such as Unsplash and Pexels. So far, the photo has been downloaded over 4 lakh times from these two websites and even used by several publications, reported NDTV.

Ferrero, while speaking to Brazilian news agency Aos Fatos, he had to delete his Instagram account after millions of social media users searched him online. "They literally hacked all my accounts. There were a lot of strange people saying all sorts of things," he told the news agency.

Meanwhile, the woman, whose photo was used by Gandhi in the press conference, told the news agency that she was not a model and posed for the photo just to help her friend, reported NDTV.

After the Congress MP’s press conference, Nery reacted to the press briefing. Sharing her disbelief over the entire episode, Nery said that her "old photograph" was used in India for "some election scam."

"Guys, I'm gonna tell you a joke. It's too horrible! Yeah... I'll say it. They're using an old picture of mine. It's a really old photo. I was so young in it, like 18 or 20 years old. They're using my photo for... I don't know, some kind of election or voting thing in India. And they're making me look Indian to scam people or hit each other with it. Look how crazy this is! What a mess I'm in!” she said.

"Then a reporter called me, wanting to know about this thing. He even called my job to set up an interview with me. I didn't answer, so he found my Instagram and called me there. Now, someone totally unrelated, a friend of mine from another city, sent me a screenshot. I'll show it here; you won't believe it,” Nery added.

During his press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday, Gandhi accused the BJP and the Election Commission of large-scale voter fraud in the 2024 Haryana assembly elections. He claimed that around 25 lakh fake votes, which is roughly 12 percent of the total, were cast, alleging “systemic manipulation” of the voter rolls.

He also alleged that a Brazilian model voted 22 times in the state assembly polls. The picture shown by the Congress leader was that of Nery clicked by Ferrero.

"Congress lost the election by 22,000 votes...Who is this lady?...She votes 22 times in Haryana, in 10 different booths in Haryana. She has multiple names...That means this is a centralised operation...The lady is a Brazilian model. That's a stock photograph," the Lok Sabha LoP stated.

Published on: Thursday, November 06, 2025, 03:10 PM IST