Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated a memorial in London dedicated to Dr BR Ambedkar. India acquired the bungalow two months back where the Dalit icon and architect of India’s Constitution lived as a student in the 1920s. Modi visited the house where Ambedkar lived in 1921-22 during his student days at London School of Economics (LSE) and said the Dalit icon’s message of equality and justice continues to resonate.

Maharashtra had acquired the three-storey 2,050 sq ft house at 10 King Henry’s Road, in northwest London, in August for an estimated cost of 3.2 million to 4 million pounds which the state government had borne. Modi, who was accompanied by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, paid floral tributes to Ambedkar’s bust at the house.

The six-room memorial is still under renovation but one of the floors which Modi explored today will be open to the public until November 20. It will then shut for further repairs and renovations and is expected to be open again in the new year.

A group of FABO UK members and other Ambedkarites braved the rain to gather outside the quiet London street today and chanted slogans in favour of the Dalit leader. Ambedkar, who died in 1956 aged 65 was posthumously conferred with the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, in 1990.