Dhaka, Feb. 20 -- The fall of a government is loud. The reordering of the state is silent. As the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) settles into office, Bangladesh's most consequential political struggle is unfolding not on the streets or in parliament, but across offices, files, and postings inside the bureaucracy.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman stands at a crossroads familiar to every returning ruler: whether to cautiously coexist with an entrenched administration -- or to decisively reassert civilian authority over a system long accused of serving political masters.

After nearly two decades out of power, the BNP's return to office brings an old question sharpened by new realities: how far will the new government go in reshaping the s...