NEW DELHI - Relieved and happy at the passage of Women’s Reservation Bill by the Rajya Sabha, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on March 9 said the government had decided to take the “huge risk” as it involved the larger issue of empowering women.

Acknowledging that she was “tense” when she watched the Rajya Sabha proceedings on TV, she said the government had gone ahead with the bill after assessing the “negatives and positives”.

Gandhi expressed gratitude to BJP and Left parties as also coalition partners for extending support to the bill and said those who had not backed it would realize what they had missed.

“It is a huge risk but we have taken such risks before,” Gandhi said after the Rajya Sabha passed the Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill with an overwhelming majority.

To a question, she said “politics is always full of risks. There will be impact one side or the other but the larger picture of women empowerment has to be taken in mind.”