New Delhi, Oct 11 (IANS): Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is likely to contest the upcoming Assembly elections in the state even as her name was not included in the first list of candidates released on Tuesday by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), sources said.

The first list of 41 candidates released by the BJP features seven MPs, including former Union minister and MP Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Diya Kumari, Baba Balaknath, Narendra Kumar, Kirodi Lal Meena, Bhagirath Chaudhary and Devji Patel.

However, Raje's exclusion from the first list has raised several questions in the state's political circles.

According to sources, the BJP is not keen to make the forthcoming Assembly elections look like an "Ashok Gehlot versus Vasundhara Raje" affair.

In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been playing a leading role in strengthening the support base for the BJP in Rajasthan.

Meanwhile, a BJP source has said that the decision to contest the upcoming Assembly elections has been left to Vasundhara Raje, adding that it's being believed that in the next lists of candidates, the former Chief Minister's name may be included.

Raje, who is also the national vice-president of the BJP, has won the elections from Jhalrapatan Assembly constituency of Rajasthan four times -- in 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2018.