Thiruvananthapuram: A humble, hard-shelled sea turtle has become an unlikely subject of meme fest in Kerala. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed turtle trails along key nesting sites in the coastal areas of Odisha, Karnataka and Kerala in the budget for 2026-27. For the state government, it sounded like a slight; for social media, the proposal was gold dust. Soon, the turtle assumed a regal look, perched on thrones, wearing hefty gold necklaces and sunglasses in social media posts.

Trollers were quick to draw analogies. The much-anticipated budget has left Kerala's development hopes moving, as social media would have it, at a turtle's speed. The sea turtle emerged as the unlikely mascot of Budget 2026, starring in memes, jokes and viral posts that mocked what many saw as the absence of meaningful allocations for the state.

Much of the criticism focused on Kerala's long-pending demand for an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). A post by SFI activist PM Arsho redefined the acronym in Malayalam as "Aama (A) Ivide (I) Idunna (I) Muttakal (M) Samrakshikkuka (S)", loosely translated as "Conserve the turtle eggs laid here". The post quickly gained traction, capturing public frustration over promises that have remained unfulfilled for years.

Another widely shared meme imagined a conversation between a Malayali citizen and a representative of the Centre. When the citizen asks for AIIMS or high-speed rail, the reply is curt: "We won't give any of that. If you want, take some coconuts… and we will give you turtles." Yet another meme suggested that while the people of Kerala asked for a hospital, the Centre instead delivered 'an AIIMS for the sea turtle' and 'a high-speed rail for the sea turtle'.

The line struck a chord online, with many seeing it as a summary of the state's experience with successive Union budgets.

Vattiyoorkaavu MLA V K Prasanth joined the chorus, sarcastically remarking that the budget seemed keen on offering "loans for turtle farming" while failing to address Kerala's core infrastructure needs.

The humour took on a surreal edge with a series of AI-generated images portraying sea turtles living in luxury. Kalpetta MLA T Siddique shared one such image showing a turtle wearing sunglasses and a gold chain, reclining on a royal purple cushion in the middle of the sea beside a treasure chest. Calling it the "star of the Union Budget", Siddique's post quickly went viral. Other images showed turtles seated on golden thrones or sprinting at improbable speeds, mocking the urgency with which niche projects were announced compared to essential services.

The memes also carried a sharp political undertone. Rajya Sabha MP A A Rahim described the budget as an act of "unending revenge" against Kerala. BJP leader K Surendran was not spared either, with posts joking that even he now wanted "the turtle's eggs".

One of the most shared posts imagined a phone conversation between the Finance Minister and actor-turned-MP Suresh Gopi. To every question about Kerala's needs — be it healthcare, railways or disaster relief — the MP is shown replying with a single word: "Aama, aama, aama," which translates to "Yes" in Tamil and "turtle" in Malayalam.

Trolls apart, turtle conservation had posed serious trouble for the Kerala fisheries sector. In 2024, the US had stopped importing shrimp from states including Kerala over lapses in steps taken to conserve turtles. Hibi Eden MP had raised the matter in the Lok Sabha, and Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Minister for fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying, said in a reply that the issue was taken up with the USA through the Embassy of India in Washington, DC. The Department of Commerce had tested several versions of Turtle Excluder Device (TED) for fishing and conducted awareness programmes among the boat owners and fishers across the major harbours and landing centres.