NEW DELHI: Reports suggested former US president Bill Clinton made remarks on immigration not dissimilar to those of President

, but it is the latter who seems to be bearing the brunt of criticism, PM

wryly remarked at a dinner with Lok Sabha members on Monday.

The dinner, hosted by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan ahead of the

Budget session of Parliament

, saw a relaxed

exchange assessments and notes with leaders over various developments, including the churn in US politics post the shock election of Trump. Despite the heat of the current election campaign in five states, Modi seemed at ease, pointing out that his election had also occasioned much comment on how an “outsider” had won.

“I had declared that I am not a Dilliwala,” he said, adding that the turn of events in the US had raised similar questions. “So how did this happen?” he is understood to have asked.

Asked how his

were coming along, Modi said he was intrigued by the firestorm over the US leader’s actions and comments. “It seems Clinton made similar comments. Par pathhar in ke upar pad rahe hain (But the stones are being rained on Trump),” the PM is understood to have remarked.

The PM indicated that he was looking to meet the new US president later this year, and had a fairly detailed conversation when he received a phone call from Trump recently. The PM said he was not making plans in advance, but noted that the media usually got to know likely developments well in advance.

The PM engaged in small talk with opposition leaders, responding to Congress member Mallikarjun Kharge’s question about whether he was meeting dissident Congress veteran S M Krishna with a counter — “I am meeting you now, am I not?”

Earlier in the day, at an all-party meeting, he jocularly asked Samajwadi MP Dharmendra Yadav — a nephew of Mulayam Singh Yadav — how he had found the time to leave UP in the midst of the election campaign.