Jobs, cash, loans: Can Bangladesh’s parties deliver on election promises?

Mohaiminul Rafi, 27, has spent years preparing for Bangladesh’s civil service exams, chasing what he calls “the most reliable route to a secure life”: a first-class government job.

With election campaigning under way across the country, he is now hearing promises aimed squarely at people like him: cash support or interest-free loans for the jobless, and sweeping job-creation targets.

When ...