NDA plans fresh Bill for women's quota, weighs delimitation changes before Monsoon session

New Delhi| Mumbai: The NDA on Friday stepped up its political and legislative outreach ahead of the Monsoon session, with the government preparing to reintroduce a Constitution amendment Bill to operationalise women's reservation through a fresh delimitation exercise.

Sources in the BJP said the party is reaching out to all parties except the Congress and the Samajwadi Party to secure the required two-thirds majority.

At a high-level NDA strategy meeting chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and attended by Home Minister Amit Shah, senior Union ministers and key allies, the ruling coalition reviewed its legislative agenda and floor coordination for the Monsoon session beginning July 20.


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The government is learnt to be weighing multiple options, including increasing the Lok Sabha strength across all states by around 50%, to address concerns of southern states over a population-linked redistribution of seats during the delimitation exercise.

A fresh draft is being prepared after the government's earlier Constitution amendment Bill failed to secure the required two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha in April.

Sources also said the BJP is exploring the possibility of Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) joining the NDA, though its preference remains a reunion of the two NCP factions before any formal realignment.

Besides the constitutional amendment, the NDA reviewed the government's legislative priorities, including plans to replace two ordinances during the Monsoon session.

One of them is the Income-tax (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which will replace the ordinance exempting foreign investors from income tax on interest income and capital gains from investments in government securities. The ordinance was promulgated last month to attract foreign capital and support the rupee amid volatility arising from the West Asia crisis.

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The meeting, held at Kartavya Bhavan, was attended by Union ministers and NDA allies Lallan Singh (JD-U), Jayant Chaudhary (RLD), Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu (TDP) and Women and Child Development Minister Annapurna Devi.

Sources said the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which seeks to grant Vande Mataram the same statutory protection as the national anthem Jana Gana Mana, is also likely to be taken up, with the legislation expected to be introduced first in the Rajya Sabha.

The Monsoon session is expected to witness sharp political exchanges, with the opposition preparing to corner the government over the NEET paper leak, deaths of Indian seafarers in the West Asia conflict, ethanol blending in petrol and alleged irregularities in donations to the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The NDA, however, heads into the session with renewed confidence after its recent electoral gains and believes it is better placed politically to navigate its ambitious legislative agenda.