New Delhi: Congress members in the Rajya Sabha on Friday held vociferous protests, raised slogans and forced the adjournment of the House again after the chair refused to accept their demand for setting aside the business and taking up a discussion on the situation at the Chinese border following recent clashes in Tawang.It was for the fourth successive day that the House proceedings were disrupted over the China issue.Before the House assembled, Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala gave a Suspension of Business Notice under Rule 267 in the Rajya Sabha seeking a discussion on the border situation. He also demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government should be asked to make a statement on the issue.When the Rajya Sabha proceedings began, the leader of the opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said the opposition parties have been traying to raise serious issues pertaining to national security, but in vain. The Congress leader urged that the business of the day be set aside and the House take up a debate on China.However, deputy chairman Harivansh, who was in the chair, did not permit this. Recalling last week’s ruling of chairman Jagdeep Dhankar that notices under Rule 267 could not be accepted till it was specified what particular rule needed to be set aside, the deputy chair said while eight notices were received under the rule, none barring one had specified the rule that was to be set aside.Harivansh also stated that he had earlier cited precedence on why clarifications on the defence minister’s statement were disallowed. He then decided to proceed with the Zero Hour submission by other MPs. At this, the Congress MPs shouted slogans and trooped into the well of the House, forcing the chair to adjourn the proceedings for 25 minutes.The Congress has been raising the issue of Chinese incursions at the border ever since reports of the December 9 attempt by China to cross the border at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh surfaced. While on Tuesday and Wednesday, the party staged a walk-out over the issue, it held protests in the House and forced adjournments on Thursday and Friday.Congress members Sonia Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in the Lok Sabha during the Winter Session of Parliament, in New Delhi, December 16, 2022. Photo: Sansad TV video grab via PTIMeanwhile in the Lok Sabha, Congress MP Manish Tewari gave an adjournment motion notice in for discussion on India-China border situation.Though there were no disruptions in the Lower House over the border incrusions, a minor verbal altercation took place there after women and child development minister Smriti Irani, while answering a question, referred to an MP as “gentleman” instead of “honourable member.” It was while answering a supplementary question by Chandra Sekhar Sahu of the Biju Janata Dal that Irani referred to him as “gentleman”, drawing a sharp response from Chowdhury, who said it was not as per parliamentary procedures.As Chowdhury was supported by his party colleagues, including K. Suresh, Irani accused him of interrupting her reply to impress his “political masters”.