Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) National President and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will flag off Chief Minister Raghubar Das’ Jan Ashirwad Yatra from Jamtara on September 18 in a grand rally, which is expected to see the presence of at least one lakh BJP workers and supporters, BJP’s State Spokesperson Praveen Prabhakar said on Saturday.

“Earlier, Chief Minister’s Jan Ashirwad Yatra was scheduled to begin on September 15, but now, it will be flagged off my Amit Shah ji on September 18. The BJP aims to win at least 15 seats in Santhal Pargana this time,” said Prabhakar.

The BJP has been strengthening its hold in Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s (JMM) stronghold, Santhal Pargana, since coming to power in 2014. The party has held a series of events in the region and Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently inaugurated a Multi-Modal Terminal in Sahibganj with the objective to boost employment and development in the otherwise backward area.

Politically, too, the BJP has been laying emphasis on winning the support of voters in the tribal-dominated region. The preparations for Shah’s visit are in full swing, BJP said on Saturday. Senior leaders of the party, including Ranchi MP Sanjay Seth and State General Secretary Dharampal, have met legislators and workers in the region and apprised them about the party’s target in the upcoming elections.

The BJP launched its ‘Ghar Ghar Raghubar’ campaign on September 9, under which party workers and leaders are going door to door and spreading awareness about the Government’s achievements, said Prabhakar. The party has set a target of winning at least 65 seats in the 81 member Assembly in the upcoming Assembly polls here. In 2014, BJP became the first ever party to form a majority Government in Jharkhand since the State’s formation in 2000.

Meanwhile, BJP’s Godda MP Nishikant Dubey and Ranchi MP Sanjay Seth were appointed as members of the 31-member Information Technology Committee of the Lok Sabha, to be headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.