Paris, May 7 (IANS): Socialist Party challenger François Hollande Sunday wrested power from incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy to become the first Socialist president of France since 1995.

Hollande beat Sarkozy in a tight run-off election to win the presidency with 51.9 percent of the vote to Sarkozy's 48.1 percent, the website of France 24 TV channel reported citing the Ipsos polling institute.

In the first round of the presidential polls April 22, Sarkozy had gained 27.18 percent of the vote against Hollande's 28.63 percent.

Hollande was leading in the opinion polls, with 52.5-53.5 percent saying they would vote for him.

According to BBC, analysts say the vote has wide implications for the whole eurozone as Hollande has vowed to rework a deal on government debt in member countries.

Exuberant supporters of Hollande converged on Place de la Bastille in Paris -- a traditional rallying point of the Left -- to celebrate.

Hollande capitalised on France's economic woes and Sarkozy's unpopularity.

The socialist candidate has promised to raise taxes on big corporations and people earning more than 1m euros a year. He also wants to raise the minimum wage, hire 60,000 more teachers and lower the retirement age from 62 to 60 for some workers.

It is only the second time an incumbent president has failed to win the re-election since 1958.

The last was Valery Giscard d'Estaing. He was beaten in 1981 by Socialist Francois Mitterrand, who had two terms in office until 1995.

In a twin blow to Sarkozy between the two rounds, far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and centrist François Bayrou, who gathered around 18 and nine percent votes respectively, both denied the incumbent an endorsement.

Bayrou said his personal vote would go to Hollande, while Le Pen said she would cast a blank vote, France 24 reported.

At 79.9 percent, according to Ipsos, voter turnout was strong, though slightly lower than the figure reached in 2007.

Hollande will be sworn in May 14 or 15.