Mr Melenchon says he will stand in the working-class town of Henin-Beaumont, near Calais, where Ms Le Pen resides.

BBC: French leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon to challenge Le Pen

"The two remaining candidates are political Siamese twins, so I'm not expecting very much from the result, " she said after voting in the northern town of Henin-Beaumont, according to Agence-France Presse.

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"I am coming here because there is a battle which has a national significance and, if I may say so, an international one too because all eyes are upon us in Europe, " Mr Melenchon, leader of the Left Front party, told supporters in Henin-Beaumont.

BBC: French leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon to challenge Le Pen