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New Delhi, Sep 6 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj Monday said the BJP and its ally Janata Dal-United (JD-U) have "no differences" in their approach to tackling Maoists and that both action and talks should go together.

"There is no difference in our approach to Maoists. BJP is not against talks. Both action and talks should go together... Nitish (Kumar, Bihar chief minister) was not lenient to them (Maoists). He had asked (Home Minister P.) Chidambaram for forces before calling for talks, so simultaneously he was prepared for hard action," Swaraj, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, told reporters here.

Swaraj's comments came hours after the release of three abducted policemen by Maoists in Bihar's Lakhisarai district, ending an eight-day hostage drama in which one policeman was killed. The four policemen were abducted by Maoists after a six-hour gunfight in Lakhisarai Aug 29. The gunbattle left seven policemen dead and 10 injured.

"Nitish has done what the BJP has endorsed so far," she added.

Reacting to allegations that the Bellary brothers of Karnataka (Tourism Minister G. Janardhana Reddy, his elder brother Revenue Minister G. Karunakara Reddy, and the younger G. Somashekara Reddy, a legislator) were under her protection, Swaraj hit out saying that the Bellary brothers enjoyed no such privilege and that the "charges against them are baseless".

"They have my blessings because they are the ones who got Bellary from the Congress' grip to the BJP. They have nothing to do with mining," she added.

The Bellary brothers are accused of large scale illegal iron ore mining in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

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