Revealed: Brazilian Model's Photo Used 22 Times in Haryana Voter Lists - Rahul Gandhi Exposes Electoral Fraud

A mysterious woman has become the focal point following Rahul Gandhi's significant allegations regarding the Haryana elections.

New Delhi:

The highly anticipated 'Hydrogen bomb' press conference by senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has thrust a mysterious woman into the spotlight as he made serious accusations about irregularities in last year's Haryana Assembly elections.

During the conference, Gandhi claimed that a Brazilian woman's photograph appears repeatedly—22 times—in the voter list for Haryana's Rai Assembly constituency.

"Who is this lady? How old is she? Which state does she come from? What's her name? Can anyone try? Where is she from?" Gandhi questioned reporters during the press meet.

When someone suggested that the woman doesn't appear to be from Haryana, Gandhi responded, "But she votes 22 times in Haryana, and she votes in 10 different booths in Haryana and she has got multiple names: Seema, Sweety, Saraswati, Rashmi, Vimla. This is a centralised operation. Somebody fed this lady into the electoral list at a centralised level, not at the booth level."

He further clarified, "She is from Brazil. She is a Brazilian model. That's a stock photograph."

The photograph in question, titled 'woman wearing blue denim jacket,' is available as a free download on stock photography websites including Unsplash and Pexels. While the model remains unnamed, the photographer is identified as Matheus Ferrero from Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The image dates back at least eight years, having been published on March 2, 2017. Though likely Brazilian, the model's nationality hasn't been confirmed. The photograph has been downloaded more than 400,000 times from these two websites alone.

Following Gandhi's allegations, fake social media profiles featuring the woman's photograph and the name Matheus Ferrero began appearing online.

Gandhi also highlighted another case of duplication, pointing to 100 voter IDs with the same woman's photograph in a single Assembly segment. "This lady gets to vote 100 times in Haryana if she feels like. This is to create space so that anybody can vote, so that BJP people can move, come from other states and vote," Gandhi asserted. He showed another instance where a woman's photograph appeared 223 times in the voter list of two polling booths. "This is the reason the Election Commission destroys CCTV footage of booths," he alleged.

"The Election Commission can remove duplicates in a second. Why don't they do it? Reason: they are helping the BJP," Gandhi claimed, displaying several examples of voter IDs with identical pictures but different names in the state's voter list.

Gandhi noted that all exit polls had predicted a Congress victory in the Haryana election, yet the results showed a BJP win. He played a video of BJP leader and Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini telling media before the results that "arrangements" had been made and the BJP would win the polls. "What were these arrangements? This is two days after the election, when everybody is saying that the Congress party is sweeping the election. This gentleman is very sure and smiling that the BJP has made arrangements," Gandhi questioned.

"I am questioning the Election Commission and the democratic process in India, and I am doing this with 100 per cent proof. We are sure that a plan was put in motion to convert Congress's landslide victory into a loss," he stated.

Sources within the Election Commission questioned what polling agents of the Congress were doing on voting day. "They are supposed to object if the elector has already voted or if they doubt the identity of the elector," a source said. The source also asked if Rahul Gandhi supports the Special Intensive Revision aimed at eliminating duplication from voter lists and removing names of those deceased or relocated from particular constituencies.

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju dismissed Gandhi's claims, saying he talks about "fake issues." "Polling is happening in Bihar, yet he's telling stories about Haryana. There's nothing left in Bihar, so he's shifting the narrative to Haryana." He added that the Opposition Leader should address serious issues.

"They say they were winning in exit polls and opinion polls. But there's always a difference between poll predictions and actual results. This keeps happening - it's nothing new. We never made any allegations against the Election Commission," Rijiju stated. He pointed out that the BJP never questions results when Opposition parties win elections and asked why Congress doesn't question outcomes when it wins. Rijiju also accused Gandhi of attempting to provoke the country's youth, but added that they support Prime Minister Narendra Modi.