Parliament begins Friday a three-month session featuring the Congress-led coalition's first full budget, a slew of reforms and expected political clashes under the shadow of Sunday's state poll verdicts.

After a long and bitter battle for power in Bihar, Jharkhand and Haryana, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the opposition are gearing up for what promises to be a volatile session.

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam will set the ball rolling with the ritual address to a joint sitting of parliament in which he will set out the government's plans and priorities for the year.

Also Friday, the economic survey, which gives an overview of fiscal performance in various sectors and future projections, will be presented.

This precedes the much-anticipated general budget that will be presented by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram at 11 a.m. Monday.

Chidambaram carries the burden of widespread expectations of a "dream budget" that will take care of the aspirations of industry as well as the common man without hurting the economy.

But Chidambaram's test will come after Railway Minister Lalu Prasad's railway budget announcement Saturday, which economists say should include unpopular measures like a fare hike that has been stalled for three years at the cost of fiscal prudence.

Between the two major budgetary announcements is the political event that could lead to much turmoil inside parliament and outside it - the verdict of elections in Bihar, Jharkhand and Haryana.

The outcome has the potential of changing national equations with two major allies in the ruling coalition - the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of Lalu Prasad and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) of Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan -- slugging it out and an aggressive opposition hoping to turn the tables after successive defeats.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has had to perform a tightrope act with allies, the Left groups and the opposition since he took power in May, faces an opposition waiting to attack him on the controversial change of government in Goa, a report on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the policy on Pakistan.

"The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will raise issues concerning national security, the illegal dismissal of the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) government in Goa and the state of national security," BJP MP and deputy leader of opposition V.K. Malhotra said.

Malhotra said the manner in which Goa Governor S.C. Jamir dismissed the BJP government and invited the Congress has set a dangerous precedent for Indian democracy.

A test of strength slated Monday in Goa is likely to create ripples in New Delhi.

The Congress slammed the opposition NDA for threatening to disrupt the budget session.

"It proves that the BJP does not subscribe to parliamentary tradition and has no intentions of letting the house to function smoothly," said Congress leader Pawan Kumar Bansal.

The Nanavati Commission report on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots to be tabled in parliament along with an action taken report is also likely to cause trouble in the house.

The opposition has accused the government of trying to play down the role of Congress leaders in the killings that were sparked by then prime minister Indira Gandhi's assassination by her Sikh security guards.

The BJP has also resolved to protest against the UPA for "diluting" India's Kashmir policy by agreeing to the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus route connecting the divided parts of Kashmir.

"By allowing Pakistan to state that the core issue in bilateral relations was the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir, the government has undone all achieved by the NDA," BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.

In between political clashes, the budget session has much legislative business lined up on areas ranging from banking and aviation to disaster control and food quality.

Among the more expected bills to be tabled is one to align the voting rights in the banking sector to reflect the shareholding pattern and encourage foreign equity in domestic private sector banks.

A bill to set up a disaster management authority in the wake of the devastating tsunami tragedy of Dec 26, referred to a group of ministers, is also on the cards.

Another bill seeks to set up a regulator for the aviation sector to primarily oversee the progress of ongoing airport modernisation and projects across India.

The first half of the budget session will continue till March 24. It would resume April 18 and could continue beyond May 13.