Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath on Thursday claimed that a deliberate attempt was being made to insult Hindus in Kerala’s Sabarimala, just as in Ayodhya.

“Ayodhya and Sabarimala are equally important,” Adityanath told Bharatiya Janata Party workers in Pathanamthitta, Deccan Chronicle reported. “The verdict on Sabarimala is against the believers. The Hindu society is on a long wait for a favourable verdict in case of Ayodhya.”

Adityanath was referring to the agitation against the Supreme Court verdict permitting the entry of all women into the Sabarimala temple. “There are many similarities between Lord Ram’s birthplace of Ayodhya and that of Lord Ayyappa’s,” the Uttar Pradesh chief minister added, according to the Hindustan Times. “Some forces are trying to insult Hindus at both holy places. In Sabarimala, the whole country is with believers, who are struggling to keep their belief intact.”

“In Ayodhya, we have carried out a continuous struggle to retrieve Lord Ram’s birthplace,” Adityanath said, adding that some judicial decisions ignore believers’ sentiments. “If age-old customs and beliefs are ruined, we need an Ayodhya-like stir in Sabarimala also.”

Adityanath claimed that the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led government in the state is using all possible opportunities to hurt the believers. “Now lakhs of devotees are there for the Kumbh Mela in my state and the government is doing everything for them.”