New Delhi: Accusing Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal of using the national capital as a “spare tyre”, Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav on Saturday said his focus has drifted away from administering Delhi.

Mr Yadav, who faced expulsion from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) soon after its landslide victory in the February 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, suggested Mr Kejriwal that he should step down as the chief minister and instead focus on the upcoming Punjab polls.

“Delhi chief minister should stop using Delhi as a stepney. He should rather quit and focus on Punjab. He should take charge as the chief minister of Punjab if his party comes to power in the state. And if it loses, he should shift his focus back to Delhi,” he said.

Mr Kejriwal, who is also the AAP national convenor, was virtually declared the chief ministerial candidate in Punjab by his close aide and Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia. At a rally on Monday, Mr Sisodia had urged people to vote “thinking that you are voting to make Arvind Kejriwal as the chief minister (of Punjab)”.

But later, Mr Kejriwal made it clear that the next Punjab chief minister will be from the state itself.

Born out of the Anna Hazare-led anti-graft campaign, the AAP first stormed to power in Delhi in December 2013.