MUMBAI, Dec. 31 -- As the deadline for filing nominations for the 2026 BMC elections closed in, crazy scenes were witnessed at the centres. At 4.50 pm, Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Arun Kamble rushed in sweating and nervous with three or four supporters carrying plastic folders filled with documents. "I received my AB form just now," he explained. "About four to five contenders were fighting for my ward (No 92), and finally the party chose me." Kamble's supporters ran helter-skelter, checking if they had all the documents minutes before the gates of the nomination centre were locked in the presence of a videographer. Lisa Chavan, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate from Ward no 88, meanwhile, missed the opportunity to contest altogether. Even as the security guards locked the gates of the ground-floor hall of the municipal school at Santacruz's Prabhat Colony, which served as the nomination centre, she waited along the corridor, unaware that she had lost out. "Since I was in the corridor of the centre, I believed I had no reason to worry," she said. "I was trying to call my witnesses for their signatures when the centre got locked. They wouldn't let me in even though I was right there." Chavan, a social worker, said she had been running around for the past two days to get the police No Objection Certification (to certify that she had no criminal cases against her). "I got candidature just a day before and there was no one to guide me on this," she rued. Vishwas Jadhav, an independent, found himself locked out of the nomination hall as he was getting xeroxes of certain documents. Result: his witnesses and documents were in the nomination hall while he was stranded outside, with the guards refusing to open the gates. "I have already paid my registration amount, and my supporters inside have already collected my token, so I should be able to file my nomination," he said, putting up a brave face. Most of the nomination centres witnessed huge crowds, with supporters of different political parties shouting slogans, cheering and waving party flags even as candidates filled their forms inside. Many areas witnessed huge traffic jams, with several candidates choosing to take out rallies en route to their centres. Much last-minute political drama was witnessed at Magathane, where the ruling Shiv Sena's sitting legislator Prakash Surve had been trying to get his son Raj Surve to contest even in the face of inner-party protests. Surve did not succeed, and Mangesh Pangare, who had filed his nomination from Ward No 4 as an independent in the morning, was given the official AB form at 4 pm by the Shiv Sena. Among others who faced a last-minute shifting of candidates' wards was Prakash Darekar, brother of the BJP's Pravin Darekar, who had to move his nomination to Ward No 3, and former standing committee corporator Sanjay Ghadi who had to shift his constituency to Ward No 5. At Charkop, the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) lost seats in three wards (19, 21, 30) because their candidates were unable to arrange for their documents in time to file the nominations, said the VBA's Shashikant Mohite. The VBA was allotted five seats in Mumbai following its alliance with the Congress, but they were announced only two days before nominations closed. Nehal Shah, the sitting BJP corporator from Ward No 177, also filed on the very last day as an independent. Similarly, Mahindra Patil from Ward No 135 got a form from the Bahujan Samaj Party after being denied a ticket by the Republican Party of India (Athawale) and filed in the nick of time....