Trade unions of the CPM and the CPI accused the Trinamool Congress of preventing Left candidates from filing their nominations for the election to the managing committee of Durgapur Steel People’s Cooperative Bank here on Friday.

The term of the previous committee had ended in 2017 but no election was held in the past eight years.

The filing of nominations for the new panel began on Thursday and ended on Friday afternoon. The voting is scheduled for March 9.

Leaders of the CPM-affiliated Citu and the CPI’s Aituc said “motorcycle-borne Trinamool goons” took control of A-Zone, where the bank is located, since Thursday morning and prevented anyone other than the candidates of the TMC from filing papers.

“Trinamool-backed goons assembled in front of the Citu office yesterday and today. The motorcycle gang gheraoed us inside the union office and did not allow us to reach the cooperative bank to file nominations. Today (Friday) was the last day and we couldn’t file nominations,” said Biswaroop Banerjee, a state secretariat member of the Citu and the president of the union’s unit at Durgapur Steel Plant.

Aituc leader Sambhu Charan Pramanik said the Left unions’ candidates had gone to file nominations on Thursday but were forced to return without doing so.

“Today, we were not even allowed to reach the bank,” he said.

Trinamool West Burdwan district president Narendranath Chakraborty dismissed the allegations.

“A plan was drawn up to bring various labour organisations together to maintain transparency. Unions like the Intuc and the HMS came on board but some did not. We never prevented anybody from filing nominations. The Left has lost acceptance among people,” said Chakraborty.