Former Kerala chief minister and veteran Congress leader, K Karunakaran, on Wednesday quit the party.

Speaking at a convention of rebel Congressmen in Thiruvananthapuram, he announced the formation of a new party -- the Indira National Congress.

He said the INC will contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls in cooperation with like-minded groups.

The new party will come into existence by early February, Karunakaran said.

"Not a single anti-Karunakaran member [of the Congress party] is going to see the [next] Lok Sabha," he said.

He said there is no truth in reports that he would have agreed to a patch-up with his rival, Chief Minister A K Antony, if his son and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee chief K Muraleedharan was given a cabinet berth.