French Socialist candidate Francois Hollande has inconclusively beaten center-right incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy in the country’s presidential race, exit polls show.

According to early estimates based on partial results, Hollande from Socialist Party took 28.4 percent of the vote in the Sunday election, while Sarkozy, who is competing on Union for a Popular Movement (UMP)’s ticket, secured 25.5, both heading for a run-off on May 6.

The results also showed that extreme right candidate Marine Le Pen of National Front has garnered 20 percent of the ballots, far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon 11.7, and centrist Francois Bayrou 8.5.

According to French Interior Ministry, the turnout stood at 81 percent, down three percentage points from the previous presidential polls in 2007.

Before the start of the voting process, opinion polls showed that Hollande would comfortably defeat Sarkozy in the second round in case of a run-off competition.

Sarkozy’s defeat in the first round marked the first such failure for an incumbent president running for reelection since 1958 when the French Fifth Republic took shape.

Hollande has censured Sarkozy’s economic record, saying that he has trapped France in a downward spiral of austerity measures and job cuts.

Sarkozy, on the other hand, says his rival is inexperienced and would spark panic in financial markets with his reckless promises.