Expelled Asom Gana Parishad founder-leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta said on Thursday that he would be floating a new outfit by September and asked all 'secular parties' to come together to defeat the ruling Congress in the state in the Assembly elections due in 2006.

"Efforts were on to launch a new party by September," he told reporters after a meeting with former Meghalaya chief minister and United Democratic Party leader E Mawlong.

When Mahanta, who is garnering the support of 'like-minded parties,' was asked if the Congress was not a secular party, he quipped, "You know what Congress is." He termed his expulsion from AGP as 'illegal' and attributed it to the 'personal political aspirations of some individuals'.

On scrapping of the IMDT Act in Assam, Mahanta said 'genuine' Indian minorities would be protected and 'illegal' foreigners would be deported. He also stated that talks with the United Liberation Front of Assam were necessary to contain violence.

He refused to elaborate upon the details of his discussion with Mawlong terming it as only 'preliminary'.