NEW DELHI. May 4 An Indian minister said in remarks published today that Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao should quit as president of the ruling party, as battle lines were drawn for a post-polls power struggle, reports AFP.

Industry Minister K Karunakaran told The. Times of India newspaper that the Congress (I) will have to And a new chief after the polls which he claimed the 111 year's old party would manage to win

Karunakaran. a Congress heavyweight from the southern state of Kerala, said the party was organisationally in a poor state amid the parliamentary ballot as Rao haa not been able to devote attention to building the party.

"We will have to find a new party president after the general election." Karunakaran said. Asked if Rao disagreed with the demand, he replied: The party cannot surrender to

Rao.

It was one of the harshest attacks on the beleaguered premier by a senior colleague, signalling an imminent power struggle after the staggered {eneral elections which opln->n poll say could result in a Congress rout.

It came ahead of the third and final round of balloting set for Tuesday.

Most pundits predict a hung parliament with Hindu nationalists finishing as the largest group in the 545-seat parliament, followed by the Congress. But neither is forecast to win enough seats to form a government on its own.

The prospects of losing power has unnerved the Congress and led to new alignments within the party, whose electoral fortunes have been steadily on the decline since Rao became its president in 1991.