Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s much-hyped “Hydrogen Bomb” press conference on alleged irregularities in the Haryana Assembly elections has taken an unexpected turn spotlighting a mystery woman whose photograph, Gandhi claims, appears 22 times in the voter list for the Rai Assembly constituency.
Stock Photo of Brazilian Model at the Centre of the Row
Displaying the image during his press briefing, Gandhi said,
“Who is this lady? How old is she? What’s her name? She votes 22 times in Haryana under different names Seema, Sweety, Saraswati, Rashmi, Vimla. This is not a local error, it’s a centralised operation.”
He later revealed that the woman is a Brazilian model, whose photo titled “woman wearing blue denim jacket” is available for free download on Unsplash and Pexels.
The photograph, shot by Matheus Ferrero from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, was first uploaded in March 2017 and has since been downloaded over 4 lakh times.
While the model’s identity remains unconfirmed, Gandhi alleged that her image was used repeatedly in the voter database to “create fake entries.”
“This Is to Allow Anyone to Vote,” Says Gandhi
The Congress leader went on to claim that similar duplications were found across Haryana, including 100 voter IDs with the same photo and 223 entries repeating another woman’s image.
“This is to create space so that BJP supporters can come from other states and vote,” Gandhi alleged.
He also accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of destroying CCTV footage from polling booths and “helping the BJP” by failing to remove duplicates.
Gandhi said exit polls predicted a Congress victory, yet the final results went in favour of the BJP, hinting at “arrangements” made in advance referencing a video of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini allegedly boasting about a planned victory.
Election Commission, BJP Dismiss Allegations
Sources within the Election Commission rejected the charges, saying polling agents of all parties are expected to flag irregularities during voting.
A senior official questioned,
“What were the Congress polling agents doing if duplication existed?”
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju dismissed the claims as “fake issues,” saying Gandhi was “shifting narratives from Bihar to Haryana.”
“There’s always a difference between poll predictions and results that’s democracy. We never question the ECI when Opposition parties win,” Rijiju said, accusing Gandhi of “provoking youth with baseless claims.”
A Viral Photo, a Political Firestorm
Since the press conference, the model’s photo has gone viral, spawning hundreds of fake social media profiles under her name.
Meanwhile, digital analysts note that the image’s presence in the voter database if verified could raise serious questions about data integrity and electoral oversight.
As the controversy grows, both the Congress and BJP are doubling down on their narratives one calling it “proof of systemic manipulation,” the other dismissing it as “headline-seeking theatrics.”
