Monsoon session: NDA ministers discuss in meet govt’s priority to get bills passed

New Delhi: A crucial meeting of the NDA group of ministers including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah ahead of the Monsoon session of Parliament was held at Kartavya Bhavan here on Friday. The meeting, also attended by Union ministers and NDA allies Lallan Singh (JD-U), Jayant Chaudhary (RLD) and Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu (TDP), discussed the ruling coalition's strategy in the upcoming Parliament session beginning July 20, sources said. Defence Minister Rajanath Singh presided over the meeting in which Women and Child Development Minister Annpurna Devi was also present. The sources said the meeting discussed government business for the upcoming session and the government's "priority" of converting two Ordinances into Acts of Parliament during the session. The government plans to introduce the Income-tax (Amendment) Bill in the upcoming Monsoon session to replace the Ordinance effected to exempt foreign investors from income tax on interest earnings and capital gains from investment in government securities (G-secs). The Ordinance was promulgated last month to attract foreign capital to ease pressure on the depreciating rupee due to the West Asia crisis. The Income-tax (Amendment) Bill, 2026, will replace the Income Tax (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026. The government also plans to introduce the Income-tax (Amendment) Bill in the upcoming Monsoon session to replace the Ordinance effected to exempt foreign investors from income tax on interest earnings and capital gains from investment in G-secs. The Ordinance was promulgated last month to attract foreign capital to ease pressure on the depreciating rupee due to the West Asia crisis. In the upcoming session, the government may also bring an amended women's reservation bill along with a delimitation bill to seek its passage in Parliament, with NDA sources expressing confidence in getting the required two-thirds number with the support of various opposition parties, except the Congress and the Samajwadi Party. The government is learnt to be working on multiple formulations to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats for all states by 50 per cent to assuage the concerns of southern states, as it seeks to operationalise a fresh draft of the Constitution amendment bill on women's quota law. The draft is being readied keeping in mind the concerns of the southern states that a population-based delimitation exercise would shrink their political power in the Lok Sabha. The first Bill failed to clear the Lok Sabha test on April 17 as the government could not muster the two-thirds majority required to pass it. The sources said the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, listed for introduction, consideration and passing, may be first brought in the Rajya Sabha. The amendment bill seeks to give the national song Vande Mataram the same statutory protection as the national anthem Jana Gana Mana. The Monsoon session of Parliament, beginning July 20, is likely to see opposition attack on the government on a variety of issues, including NEET paper leak, death of Indian seafarers in the West Asia conflict and the mixing of ethanol in petrol. The opposition will also raise the issue of alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya. A weakened opposition following assembly poll results in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, and differences between the Congress and the DMK over the formation of government by the TVK in Tamil Nadu are likely to embolden the ruling alliance in Parliament during the session.