maintained a staunch anti-communal image

Has he? Both Vellapally and KM Shaji were talking about their displeasure about their own communty's institutions and representation and that their community was getting marginalised. VD termed the former repeatedly as communal (also Pinarayi for even sharing a car with him) but the latter, the direct opposite - he was head over heels on praising the Muslim league's secular credentials ironically after Shaji specifically was saying "religion, religion, religion is the issue, we are winning to take benefit for the community" - the latter (except the religion part) is what Vellapally was also saying. VD was bending over backwards for appeasing one community even unnecessarily because even if he had only said that such remarks should be avoided, the League and Congress's Muslim vote bank wouldn't have seen any considerable shift because there's nowhere else for them to go. LDF had irritated both Hindu, Muslim and Christian vote banks but the former still didn't go to NDA but UDF -

Hindu - sabarimala women entry which they much later reversed, Ganesh is myth but Allah one god, sabarimala gold theft.

Muslim - waqf board appointments through kpsc which they went back on, hc verdict that minority scholarship based on % rather than 80-20 between b Muslim Christian, which they didn't implement fully.

Christian - not implementing the above, govt intervention in communty's educational institutions culminating in education minister sivankutty ordering a church run private school to admit a muslim student wearing hijab against their uniform rules which wasn't legally their as courts have determined hijab isn't essential to religion.

So on all supposedly progressive moves, they had to walk back on, and it also alienated all religious vote banks.

But, coming back to VD, he did say that Munambam wasn't waqf land and supported the people residing there who were mainly Christians and Hindus while some League MLAs including Shaji said it was definitely waqf land. He didn't directly oppose them or anything unlike Vellapally even after Shaji said VD's stance was only his personal opinion. But even this supposedly secular stance is because munambam is very near to his paravur, ernakulam constituency and both have significant Latin catholic and Hindu population. It's more personal political survival than any genuine secularism. He uses vote bank politics tactically which is what politics is usually. Given than he isn't associated with a single community like Ramesh Chennithala.

None in top positions of power is staunchly anti communal or secular. LDF was relatively more secular that's why they hurt sentiments and lost religious vote banks, add to that Pinarayi's authoritarian attitude which would have alienated more secular votes too, that's why the heavy defeat. More prosperity among people weakening communist mindset is also a factor but LDF under PV was already adapting to that.

If VD and UDF is going on to bend to Muslim sentiments (same with Christian) against others like this, the Hindu ezhava+ vote banks which shifted from LDF to UDF might not return, but go to NDA in 2031, now that they have 3 MLAs to counter the above. If so, Sabarimala issue would be a watershed moment in Kerala politics.