[WS:] This is my impression too. CP parties in Eastern Europe went that way and were wiped out in elections. They were replaced by nationalist-populist parties with a decidedly right wing bent on social issues but left wing on social welfare. I do not know much about West Bengal, but Mamata Banerjee does not seem to fit the same mold - she seems to be more of a "New Left" populist: anti big development, small is beautiful, pro womens' and poor people's rights,
and pro small agrarian interests, no? I think that the populist appeal may be more of a factor here than the remittances (or lack thereof) that Ravi mentioned.
Wojtek